Shout Out

This is a special shout out to Denise.

Hi Denise!!

I heard that you look at my blog and were bummed that I hadn't posted anything for a while. So here you go. Something special just for you.

Have a great day!!

Random Musing - Poker Skills?

If ever I thought I had any skills at electronic fake gambling (which I have yet to think about myself), it was crushed today. No matter how good of a hand that I think I have, there is always someone with something better.

Here are my cards with the flop...

A full house on a flop?! Are you kidding me? This never happens. I'm going to run this guy for all that he has.

Then he turns over his cards...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! What are the odds? That's it. I'm never going to Vegas.

Random Musing - Vitamin Water

So, which flavor of vitaminwater mutil-v would you choose?

Yum...

National Road Trip - Home Stretch

Here we are. 500 some miles away from home. From my own bed. My own shower. My laundry machine. And of course, from Liz :D

It was sad to be leaving the Barklow's, but it was nice knowing that the miles that laid ahead of us were nothing in comparison to those we'd already crossed.

We hoped on the road around 7:45 and before we knew it, we had a choice to make. According to the weather reports, the route we wanted to take (Snoqualmie Pass), had gotten a ridiculous amount of snow and if the pass was open, chains were required. Eric did not have chains. Even if he did have chains, they wouldn't fit on his little-itty-bitty-modified-homemade-kit of a car. So, without too much debate, we decided to hug the Columbia River and take I5 from Portland. The unfortunate part was that we weren't going to be able to stop at my mom's for a short visit.

Sorry Mom.

And because it would be the middle of the day when we hit Portland, we weren't going to be able to stop and see Shawn.

Sorry Shawn.

Of course, as soon as we made the decision to stay in Oregon, it started snowing. And before long we found ourselves driving about 30mph on iced roads with horrible traction. Eric seemed to have things under control so I decided to close my eyes for a few minutes. I fell asleep to these images...

And before I knew it, Eric was pulling over at a rest stop and this was the view.

I was quite surprised. I couldn't believe that I had been asleep for that long. And long enough to pass through a complete climate change. I was even thinking I was dreaming. But nope, I had just really been that tired. So then it was my turn to drive. I finished the drive all the way back to Tacoma. These are the last pictures taken before Washington.

And wouldn't you know, it hadn't been but five minutes into Washington state, and it started raining. Not the mist rain that most people complain about, but the kind of rain that makes you wonder if we were experiencing a second flood. It was intense. But it was nice to be back to the familiar.

Here are the times that we entered the remaining two states:
PST
07:30am - Oregon
01:38pm - Washington

So, after 42 hours, 12 states, 3060 plus miles, $219 in gas, 15 or so bathroom stops, 3 or 4 naps each, 49 cigarettes (smoked by Eric), 2 fast food meals, 6 Red Bulls, 3 sermons, 3 episodes of The Office, 1 bag of chips, 5 candy bars, 0 salads, countless songs on Eric's iPod, almost being pulled over once, 3 semi trucks trying to run us off the road for blinding them with Eric's headlights, and Eric telling me to go easy on his stupid 'Lambo' doors 4 times we made it across the country.

Welcome home Eric.

Amazing Race??

National Road Trip - Nampa, ID

Ahhh...this was the relaxing part of the trip. We did a whole lot of nothing. And it was exactly what we needed. We woke up to amazing Barklow Breakfast Burritos and got to hold baby Jude for a little while. She is a very precious baby (as if there would be any doubts).

So here are some pictures...

That first afternoon we went to a restaurant called Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine.

It really liked this place. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. The setup really played off the whole 'trailer park' image. Shower curtains were used to separate the staff from the public. There were random couches and car parts all over and the table seats resembled the back seat of most old school cars. There was even a car that was turned into a special eating area.

Menu items ranged from standard burgers to fancy ones, mac n' cheese, meatloaf, and spaghetti-o's still in the can. Good food, good music, and good times. Good company helped too.

The rest of our time in Nampa was filled with naps, laughs, LOST, video games, naps, fajitas, and just good old relaxing hang-out time. It had been too long since the three of us had so much time to just hang out together. Being able to spend time with Brandi and baby Eleanor Jude (who I have decided that I will be the "uncle that always calls her by her middle name) was also very much appreciated.

Thank you Barklow family for allowing us to come crash in your spare bed room and hang out with you guys. We love you all very much.

Oh, and here is a picture of Slick. Joe has had this turtle for more years than I can think of. When we lived together in Sea-Tac, Slick and I would whistle back and forth to each other. I like to think that he remembers me.

And now, we're homeward bound.

National Road Trip - Big Leg

This was kind of ridiculous. We left Janice's at 9pm or so with the intention of driving for 24 hours straight to Joe's house in Nampa, ID.

For the first few hours, we stuck to this plan pretty well. But after trading driving back and forth a few times, Eric finally decided to pull over at some parking area in the middle of Illinois. I remember waking up, seeing nothing but pitch blackness, and asking if we were at a rest stop. Eric said yes, and apparently I crashed back out.

We stayed there for a couple hours and as the sun started to make it's way up, we got back on the road. He drove for a few hours, then I took over. I was still pretty tired, but Eric had been driving for a while and deserved a rest. After about an hour, I could tell I was starting to fade, so I stopped for a Red Bull. Everyone talks about the energy you get, and the ads say you'll get wings. So I drank 2 Red Bulls and a bottle of water. I'm pretty sure I drove for another 8 hours or so, with 2 more Red Bulls in there somewhere. I was hopped up on something fierce!


I started driving in Iowa and Eric took back over somewhere in Wyoming. He drove through Utah and the first half of Idaho, and I finished up to Joe's.


For the most part, the weather was really nice...until we got to the snow storm moving through Salt Lake City. We were reminded of the movie "Stargate" when we'd flip the high beams on.

Here are some of the other pictures I was able to snap across the country.







Here are the times we entered each state:
CST
09:37pm - Illinois
12:05am - Iowa
08:38am - Nebraska
MST
03:20pm - Wyoming
09:12pm - Utah
11:54pm - Idaho

We pulled into Joe's at about 3:15am, or so. As we made our way to the back side of the house, we were really worried that we might have the wrong house. That would have definitely changed the story for this posting. It probably would have started like "National Road Trip - Jail Time". But, we were in the right place and were welcomed by a well made bunk bed. I was very much excited to sleep horizontally.

So now we're here for two days to spend some quality time with our friends Joe, Brandi, and new baby Eleanor Jude.

Here's a sneak peak of Eleanor;