Oh, Virginia....

August 5, 2013

I'm just going to cut to the chase... I got a speeding ticket in Emporia, Virginia of Greensville County. The second one of the trip........We were not using the radar detector because it is very illegal to use one there. The cop even knew we had one and asked for it. Thank goodness it wasn't on or he would've taken it from us for good. Honestly, I don't even want to talk about it. It wasn't the best experience. This is unfortunately the only thing that happened in Virginia.

TIP: Do not speed or use your radar detector in Virginia.

GO THE SPEED LIMIT OR THEY WILL FIND YOU.



North Carolina Adventures

August 2, 2013

 

We checked out of our hotel room in Adel, GA at about 12 p.m. It was a really positive start to our day even though we were all still bummed on not being able to do anything planned for GA. I know I personally was really looking forward to going to Helen and going camping... but again, I was GLAD to be back on the road again.

 

~And so we traveled... around Atlanta, through the tip of South Carolina, and then arrived in North Carolina! Surprisingly a long drive by the way!

 

 

 

~~~~BELOW ARE THE ACTUAL STOPS WE MADE~~~~

 

*Around 8/9 p.m. we get to my grandma's house in Hickory (One of the hardest places to navigate around in). My amazing grandma is 93 this upcoming month. She also just got her second hip replaced a few months ago and walks without a cane.

**Her Advice** DRINK MILK!

 

 





 * We left there and decided to go to DUKE UNIVERSITY...not realizing that we would get there at 2 in the morning. After getting lost a few times on the winding roads of Durham, we finally parked right by the famous chapel building. The security guards just let us walk around and venture all that we wanted. All I can say is we didn't want to leave. OH, AND WE RAN ACROSS THE FIELD :) Here are some pictures:

 

 

* This long day was still not over because we needed to arrive at the place we were going to stay for the night which consisted of vague driving directions and driving through corn fields and on dirt roads. My Aunt Ish lives in Harrells, NC (which doesn't even exist on the map behind this post...) It is basically a very small town in the middle of nowhere on The Black River. At her place, she has a puppy, Sadie, another camp dog, Sofie, and 3 loveable cats. We stayed in one of the mobile homes she owns and traveled back and forth to the houses by golf cart. We did lots of fun things here including: going on a crazy boat ride down the river (sawing down trees as we went), riding on the back of my Uncle's tailgate drinking tea, and having a huge bonfire. Very relaxing.  

 

 

 

We stayed with Aunt Ish for several nights and then decided it was time for our next adventure (which we will be posting soon.) Please comment! I hope everyone is enjoying the blog so far!

 

 





The Minor Bump in the Road... Adel, Georgia

August 1,2013 8:13am

 



Let's just say Georgia's first impression is something we will never forget. I drove through Georgia's first city, Valdosta with no problems. Reaching the city limits of Adel is where the trouble began. I was exiting I-75 to find a gas station, but what do I see in my rear view mirror? A cop. His lights were flashing and he was speeding up right behind me; he came out of nowhere.



 

This is the aftermath of SPEEDING in Adel, Georgia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ...Five minutes later

 

 

 


We were on a hunt for a Shell gas-station that our GPS was leading us to. Turns out there was never a Shell in Adel and due to the fact that I just got a speeding ticket, my mind was everywhere. Then all of a sudden, the only thing I could hear is Casey saying," Red light! Red light! Red light!"

 

 

My first instinct was to slam on the brakes. The immediate stop sent the rack that we had used to hold all of our luggage, flying over the top of the car and breaking right in the middle of the street. When it flew over it scraped the hood of the car and completely broke off the arm of one of the windshield wipers.  JUST MY LUCK! Panic was in the air and thank goodness Adel had a lot of  police because they helped us load our stuff in the car. Once we got everything in the car, we pulled into the nearby Days Inn.
 

 

Later this day

 

 

.

 Luckily we had this incident on local roads near not only a hotel, but O'REILLYS. I swear we went to O'Reilly's like a hundred times this day, or at least it felt like it. We eventually gave up on a search for a rack and had our handy helpers Stacy and Stephanie help us out finding proper tie downs.

 

Can you guess which one is Stacy? and which one is Stephanie?

 

 

On the road again

Even though we didn't get to adventure in Helen or slide down big rocks or camp, we still learned something from Georgia; Never EVER speed and there are amazing people you can meet who might just save the day.. Thank you, Georgia for making us stronger then when we first entered.



 
 
                                              



Let's Go Back to The First Day....

In it for the long haul

 

I remember first sitting down and seriously talking about this road trip, this big move to California, and automatically going into planning mode. We thought of all the things that could happen, where we could go and the fun we could have. We started a trip journal and began creating an itinerary for our families.

 

Ever think it would be easy to pack your life in a car

and take off on a whirl-wind adventure across the U.S?

 

I could not explain to you all of the things we had to endure through the few days before we left; Saying goodbye to families, seeing friends, gathering up all important information, taking the car to get checked, and making sure we had everything we would need for this two month adventure. One of the most difficult things, besides leaving our parents, was packing our most valued clothing items in two duffel bags.

 

 
TIP:  rolling your clothes takes up less room and is more efficient for future rummaging through bags

 

 *Always remember to bring a few sets of professional clothes for future job interviews, nice dinners and family gatherings.

~These things we surround ourselves with,
they do not make us who we are;
Our experiences are our make up.~

So we bought a car rack for the top of our beautiful car

 (Phoebe) and packed up what we could fit on top including our 

long boards. We strapped it down, clipped our rack on and did a few test runs.
3:55 am we were off into the night....

- Driving in the early morning/night time is one of the best ways to gain a lot of headway! Lots of adrenaline, music playing and good vibes all around.-
 

 

Everybody, bear with us, we are new to this process and have lots more to post! Keep checking in for more updates!