All Gone to look for America

When I first saw exactly where Boston was on the map, I was a little shocked at how far away it actually was. I had always placed it more Virginia-ish in my mind. But no, it's up there. We couldn't have picked a farther place if we tried. Here's some pictures of our cross country spree with Frisky in tow. Don has lots more on facebook and myspace. If you really want to see our entire trip, just stare at each picture for approximately 3 hours.


First, we took a last dip in the Pacific, at Ocean Beach.


Arizona: Arizona is actually a beautiful state, once you get as far away from Phoenix as possible.

New Mexico: I don't know much about New Mexico- we drove through it at night after a late start through Arizona. Here's all I know- for some irrational reason, there is nothing to eat open at 11 at night. We ended up at some hideous place called Country Fare, which managed to make grilled cheese inedible. I can therefore safely say: New Mexico sucks.

Texas: We drove all through the night and got to Amarillo by morning. (Did you know "Amarillo by Morning" is a song? I do, Don was singing it as we drove, to Amarillo, to get there by morning.) We actually spent the majority of our non driving time in Texas. Amarillo has an awesome roadside attraction off the 40, the Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillacs stuck in the dirt, in front of a field, spraypainted with people's names. Texas. Everyone brough spray paint and painted their names:

Even Paul McCartney!

Don't I look happy here? That's because this is the only time during the trip when I wasn't covered in rabbit fur. Speaking of furballs, how did Frisky like traveling? Not at all. Rabbits don't understand cars and why they're moving and how it's not a giant predator, and they don't listen to reason. Though overall he wasn't too freaked out, we needed to have safety breaks:

Here is Frisky in my lap, covered in a towel and sitting in an aluminum roasting pan (for accident protection for my legs). He loved it. These were his favorite parts of the trip. Otherwise he was in a cage in the back seat, shooting us looks of "you have got to be f-in kidding me" whenever we told him that everything was going to be all right.

Largest cross in the United States on the side of the road, or something like that. Texas.

Oklahoma: After all the cadillacs and crosses and Paul McCartneys of Texas, Oklahoma was boring. Really boring. And we drove through it for a long time. They also have the most confusing toll roads where you have to pay to get off and on, and we ran out of cash and I had to write a 3 dollar check to a toll booth operator. Also, one of the tollbooths freaked Frisky out and he tried to jam himself in the safety zone between the door and the passenger seat. Only one of them though. Maybe the toll booth operator was a hawk in disguise or something. So Lessons From the Road #2- Avoid Oklahoma toll booths, humans and rabbits alike. (Lesson #1- Don't eat at the Country Fare Restaurant in New Mexico.)

Here's some buffalos ignoring us in Oklahoma.

Missouri, St. Louis: Missouri was less boring than OK, but not by much. We stopped in St. Louis for the night, but nothing interesting happened. I drove through ~3/4 of Missouri and through St. Louis, and that is all the driving I did the entire trip. Don is a champ.

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio: These states all look the same. The only exciting part was when we crossed a state line. Then we would cheer and yell "State #7!!! yeah!!" Then lapse into silence again.

Pennsylvannia: Another night time state. It also went by really quickly, and we were in New York! Which is right next to Massachusetts! We were almost there! New York is really pretty, with lots of farm land and trees:

It also is a lot longer of a state than you would think. Seven hours of trees and farms when you want to see cities and apartments is hard to take. (Lesson #3- New York is HUGE. The map is lying to you. ) But then we were in Massachusetts! And then, Boston!
We made it! The ending was pretty rough, because we had to pick up the key to our place, and the broker office was closing in an hour, when we were 30 miles outside the city. So Don had to book it while I gave him directions which I was only half sure about. Don ended up having to navigate his first traffic circle, which is not something to attempt under stressful circumstances. We ended up making it with 1o minutes to spare. Boston drivers are totally nuts. There are no rules, no lane lines, no MERCY.

After we got the the place, we went to a nearby pizza place for dinner. It was straight up Boston. Red Sox game on, delivery drivers talking shit to each other, "Can I help you?" said in a semi-threatening tone. Welcome to our new home.

Toes in the Atlantic Ocean, Carlson Beach. (We told some natives we met that we went to this beach, and their eyes got real wide, and said "You didn't go swimming, did you?" No, no we didn't.)

Next post I'll add pictures of our current living situation. Here's a hint: Sparse.