Pensacola, Panama Beach City, Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Daytona Beach, FL

Sunshine State yeaaaa

Pensacola - Hell YEAA

UUUUGGGGHHHHH kiiddd. We made it! My feet have touched the Atlantic ocean. We have officially traversed the great US of A. Allow me to reflect and tell you of these towns in Florida, a very fine state of this union.

Pretty in Pensy

Boom Boom Pow!! We were out of Alabama just like that and into Florida. MMmmm the coast was soo close but knew we needed to pace ourselves and experience that which was present. We headed on into Pensacola and after much needed laundry we headed downtown. We walked the streets and it had a very Sacramento feel to it. Mardi Gras was in full swing so there were Mardi Gras Balls going on so we saw many people dressed up very fancy in Tuxes and dresses. I thought that these balls were interesting because it allows adults to have a Prom type experience still. People really get into it and seems to be an important part of the culture. Some of the Balls are Masquerades while others are just dances or they have musical performances. We ended up filling our bellies in a place called McGuire's Pub which has the signature of people writing their names on dollar bills and stapling them to the ceiling. Supposedly, they have more than a million dollars on the walls. They are still tax liable for that right??

Git me dat money B!

We so happy here

Well they were having a special on drinks where I was getting my whiskey sours for 2 bucks a pop and they were delicious. Needless to say I may have imbibed a mortal sins worth. Anna enjoyed her cider responsibly but I was definitely feeling it. The wait was long and you could order at the bar so that is what Anna and I decided to do. We shared a delicious Shepard's Pie. McGuire's was actually a little ways out of downtown and we walked there so to get back to Maander we stumbled/walked back for a decent walk and found a coffee joint to hang at till I sobered up. Good times and the places were still popping when we were just enjoying our coffee, oh and we succumbed to some delish desert as well. Sleepy at Walmart and then to church the next day to confess my sins.

The church was big and we didn't really meet anyone. Shockingly, the Baptist church was preaching on Romans!! :) it was a solid service and all but afterwards we were pretty quickly on our way. We headed to the beach and spent most of the daylight left there just relaxing and working on our tans. The beaches on the panhandle were absolutely beautiful. The beaches are actually more beautiful than the ones in California no lie. The water was very blue and the water was still pretty cold so I just kinda dunked my feet in.

Sunset and Gulf of Mexico, dat pretty!

Maander it has been fun now
we need to get to bed k?

We drove down the island that is on the Gulf. I don't know exactly what they are called but there is mainland then a channel then island then Gulf. It goes like that for a ways on the coast. We took a very scenic drive down to Panama Beach. It really felt tropical and it was a very easy drive enjoying the sites. We rolled into Panama which was quite touristy. We spent more time on the beach and had lunch there. All of Panama's Walmarts don't allow camping so we stayed at a RV site and got some showers and kinda just enjoyed the weather. It has been very mild and the humidity hasn't been too bad at all. For those people who, "Winter" in warmer climates I have no idea why they are driving to Yuma instead of going to the Emerald Coast. Suppose if you hate humidity that would be a reason.

Itz a hippy thang

From Panama we took the long way around Tate's Hell State Forest, horrible name imo, to Tallahassee. This kept us right up against the Gulf and we saw beautiful scenery for most of the trip. Houses that are literally on the beach were going for 200gs too so yeaa, different from Cali. I won't speak much about Tallahassee. It was didn't have a good vibe to it. We went to the Capitol but for the most part it was meh. Anna and I were not jiving very well during that time (we're cool now though) and we just wanted to get on the road after a nights stay.

White beach and White um Anna!

Thats blue

A real seagull
apparently in Cali they are, "Gulls"

We left the Capitol for Gainesville which we heard was a cool college town. That is the home of the University of Florida, the Gators Football champs over and over. They are very proud of their school it is huge and their team is very good. We may have been frequenting places that weren't so collegy but it didn't have the typical college town feel we were used to. It mainly felt like just a normal biggish town that really liked Alligators. It was hilarious to see that the big thing there is to ride around town on a scooter. Not a motorcycle or moped or a vespa. A new scooter. The college kids were zipping around all over on them. We went for a walk on campus and just saw rows upon rows of scooters. We visited the stadium where the Gators play and there were many kids working out on the benches doing plyometrics.

In Tallahassee we met a guy with a very nice bus who informed us of Winterjam in Daytona which is a big VW car show there. We had planned on leaving on Thursday to get there for when the events began. The first thing was a welcome party at a Winghouse. Well before we left Gainesville I wanted to get the oil changed, valves adjusted and a good look over by a knowledgeable VW shop. I found a reputable shop named Hugo's and I talked to Hugo. Well he could do everything I was looking for but he couldn't get to it till the next day. Well we didn't plan on it but we decided we would stay another day in Gainesville. We went to the mall and then went on a hike in a neighboring park reserve. It was a good hike that didn't have particularly spectacular views we may have seen in Humboldt but very nice. After getting out of the desert and into foresty type places from Texas eastward they foliage is much denser and skinnier than in California. California has the massive trees that reach so high and navigating among them isn't too bad. Here it is super dense skinny trees that get up to maybe 30ft and there is a ton of foliage all around almost impossible to pass unless someone has already burned a path.

Itz a backwoods kinda thang

I told her that wasn't the right direction

Young Cardinal

Hugo's work took most of the day on Friday. Anna was a bit annoyed but he did a great job and he also explained some things to me that were very helpful for the road. He took a look at my old distributor and confirmed that the points were completely fried. He showed me how to switch them out some tricks of the trade and some adjustment I may choose to make to the carburetor. We got to Daytona and headed to Walmart to turn in for the night.

Another Adventurewagen!
The interior was kinda lame though
Plus Sgt. Peppers lonely heart club!! Cool

Daytona is famous for it's racetrack and for bike week. Because of this there is a huge amount of motorcycles in the area and white trash, apparently bike week will be there next week so people may be coming down early. The beach area is very developed and had the 50s vibe that isn't so charming to myself particularly. The beaches were great and this was the moment I was able to put my feet in the Atlantic ocean for the first time. I claimed victory when I did that. If Maander bites the dust from here on out I won't fret too bad. I made it across the country in a VW!

Me claiming victory!

A Fridolin. They're old Mail trucks

It was Saturday so we went on over to the area where WinterJam was occurring and registered. The price was a bit steep and I didn't know how it would compete with my typical car show I go to, Bug-o-Rama. Saturday was just a precursor to Sunday and not as big. We talked to the guy we met in Tallahassee and saw what they had. We headed to a mall after and saw the movie Hall Pass which was solidly funny but nothing amazing.

Daytona Beach promenade

Today is Sunday and we are done with WinterJam. It didn't live up to the price tag. I paid 5 bucks more for this show and it didn't have the quality of VWs as compared to my home show and no drag strip. The best part of it was that I was able to see a Fridolin which I have never seen in real life before. We went to the beach at about 12 and stayed till 3 and got some sun.

Probably the most rare thing at the show

We are now almost to Orlando. Apparently, Orlando is experiencing record high temperatures for this time of year and because of this Maander has gotten hotter than I would like. We are about 20 miles out at a Starbucks and giving him a break. 87 degrees is predicted for tomorrow and I don't know about the humidity. Turns out humidity sucks!! We are spoiled in California in that regard. I am becoming more and more convinced why California really is that great of a place and subsequently so expensive.

We finally get to go to a 24 hour fitness since Fort Worth here in Orlando! I am excited to get back on the treadmill, stair climber and bike! I think I have maintained my weight maybe gained a lb or two but plan on getting back on the wagon here. Down in Miami they have a bunch of 24s too so we will utilize them extensively. I am having a battle in my head whether to drop the cash for Disney World and all those places, possibly Cirque du Soliel. You will find out next blog :) Peace

'Nawleans, LA, Biloxi, MS and Mobile, AL

They use actual gas lamps in the French Quarter

Mardi Gras yeaaahh. Apparently Mardi Gras is a celebration before the beginning of Lint where everyone just sins it up and does whatever because once Lint comes around then you got to be on the straight and narrow... How effed up is that? Well in the south and particularly in Louisiana Mardi Gras is a big celebration and a big hoop-de-hay. After Katrina I heard "spiritual" people hypothesize that because of this debauchery that is Mardi Gras God forsook them. Yea I don't buy into that but the whole premise of Mardi Gras seems suspect.

The Mississippi River

Getting the vibe of 'Nawleans

We rolled into 'Nawleans, as the locals call it, and went straight to the French Quarter. From our tourist guide it said that it is basically the only touristy place there. We rolled into and stopped at a coffee shop to recharge our batteries and get situated for our time in NO. As soon as we get out of Maander there is a guy who is working on his car in front of his apartment and takes a moment to compliment our bus and we start talking to him. He gives us some suggestions of where to go and what you will run into when there. I get inspired to ask him if there are any places to avoid. I asked him this because I have heard through media that the cops can be corrupt and that there are some very shady places in NO. He said yea and basically laid out the places we really shouldn't wander into. Cool we are off to a good start. We say goodbye and he offers to sell us some weed and we kindly decline and are on our way :)

Secret Garden??

Narrow streets with many things to do

We head on into the coffee shop which had a nice vibe to it and the people that were patronizing the establishment were very bohemian. There was a lady there that looked like she had grown her dreads for over 10 years and everyone there looked to have lots of style and apple products :). I start surfing the net and sipping java and after the convo with the gentleman I get inspired to type into google: "what are the bad parts of New Orleans?" This was a mistake. I read page after page of horror stories and crime and how there isn't one redeemable part of NO that exists. I started becoming fearful, hell I think anyone would after reading this and this. This gave me great anxiety and I became paranoid. For the rest of our time in NO I was on edge, this kind of ruined the experience of the town.

Examples of some pretty cool
Mausoleums

We were debating staying in the vicinity till Saturday which would be the beginning of Mardi Gras and as previously mentioned, a very big deal here. After the paranoia there wasn't a chance. We walked the streets of Bourbon St, and Decatur St. All the roads were very narrow and everything felt old. The French Quarter of NO actually wasn't effected by Katrina because it is actually higher than sea level. All I can say about this area is that the culture and eclecticism was palpable. You could tell that this was a Mecca for artists of all kinds to come and just be. Not even a destination to necessarily become famous at but, to live and be with like minded people. Here in the south there seems to be a great deal more of diversity in terms of black and white. In Cali we get Mexican and many different ethnicity's and we are quite diverse. In the south you have many African-Americans of varying classes and lifestyle choices. You have the artist and musician of all different backgrounds and it feels like this colors this part of NO a great deal and in a good way.

Beignet yeaaaa gooood

We push on and experience the, "Quarter" and see the Mississippi and grab a bite. Since Bourbon St is known for Mardi Gras either it always is pushing a Mardi Gras feeling all year long or they were warming up for it in just a week. People were acting loud and stupid. In the restaurant that we were at this group of cougars were stupid drunk and acting like asses and it was only 5pm. One of them that was just sloppy drunk was announcing to the room that this was the best turkey club she has ever eaten. This inspired Anna to order that turkey club and was then disappointed after she got it. I had a good chuckle that she based her decision on the drunkard in the back. We walked around till a little after dark and then decide we would find the place to stay the night. I decided on a Walmart outside the city to try and make sure we are safe and have a quiet rest of the night.



In the morning, we went to the Metairie Cemetery. Why a cemetery? well since LA is below sea level for the most part most people aren't buried in the ground but in mausoleums. This cemetery was particularly regarded for the elaborate family mausoleums. We spent time walking the grounds and saw the beautiful monuments. It almost seems narcissistic to get such elaborate things made for the dead. In their defense it will house their entire family in all likelihood and will last probably a thousand years to commemorate those there. From there we left for Biloxi.

On the way to Biloxi

On the bike ride

All this talk of NO reminds me of a conversation I had with Tommy. When we discussed hurricanes in the area. I asked him if he had been through any or what they typically do and all that. Tommy said he likes staying for hurricanes, he said it was part of the culture. He described his experiences with Katrina and with Gustaf. From him they didn't sound like that big of a deal for the area he lived in. He said what really messed up NO was that the levees broke. Lots of people in the media commented about why were so many people still in the town when the hurricane came and were the poor people too poor to get out or be informed. I now believe that many people stayed because it was cultural and they were showing in a very real way, "We are stronger than this storm" turned out they weren't stronger but this isn't the first hurricane in the area. What the media says and what is reality is always a much different story.

The Gulf Coast

Sorry this blog is so long winded :) onward yo to Biloxi

I will keep Biloxi short. It is on the Gulf and it was cool to see. Anna will likely say that the water looked oily and nasty. This is a complete lie and misunderstanding. The water was muddy and the water was really flat. No oil. And last I checked Oil and water don't mix so it can't be somewhat oily, either there is oil present or its not. The beach was white and beautiful and the weather has been great ever since we got out of Houston. We didn't do much in Biloxi and it seems the only reason to go there is if you want to go to a casino. We saw a movie and just got some relaxation there. That hiccup with Maander I told you about has been getting worse and it made it so Maander wouldn't start. As I said before I suspect it to be the distributor so I start investigating and confirm the coil is in working order etc etc. I end up replacing the distributor and also changed out the generator pulley belt because it had some fraying which was cool to nip that in the butt before we had to change it out on the freeway. So far so good with the new distributor though the timing could be fine tuned.

The beach niiice

Mobile hasn't been much but we haven't explored much either. Last night we stayed at a Motel 6 because we were desperate for some showers. I won't be going to one of those again because we get there and pretty soon we get word that some "Police Activity" is going outside and I peak out my window and see cops with guns drawn peering around corners. I get pretty nervous and Anna and I kinda stay towards the back of the room in case some gunfire starts happening. Apparently, a bank robber from Kentucky had stayed the night at the Motel 6 and the US Marshals had tracked him down. They caught him luckily and he was only 3 doors down from us. So we get freaked out by that then when we turn in for the night neighbors are being loud and obnoxious throughout the night. I have only stayed at Best Westerns for the past 3 years and before that would rarely if ever stay at hotels. This crap was not what I was used to and it pissed me off. In the morning the neighbors were once again loud and obnoxious grrrrrrrrr. I will spend the extra 40 bucks or more to have respectful neighbors and a hotel that had nice beds with a mediocre breakfast.

Some big houses in Mobile

Beautiful Spanish Moss

I'm now in a coffee shop in Mobile after a bike ride. We had planned on going to this coffee shop and just hanging out but when we showed up there was a bike gathering. Turned out they had a get together where we would ride the historic districts of Mobile and this Architect would talk about the homes and history of the area. It was a lot of fun and there were a ton of people. This area is truly beautiful and has a Sacramento feel to it with how old the neighborhood is and the trees.

Cool old Oak

We will be heading to Pensacola, FL later today and just finally get ourselves to that east coast. My uncle may be able to hook us up with a weeks stay at a camp site in Florida. We will be hanging out all over Florida till the east coast is ready to be explored with Maander. Love you all and miss you a ton. No matter what we will be back in Sacramento the end of June because Anna has some obligations. I am sure it will come sooner than I realize. Peace y'all.

Getting ready to go on the ride

Austin's return, Houston, TX and Baton Rouge, LA

Anna munching on a Beignet

I must apologize... I feel this blog has slipped into uninspired jankiness. This thing has degraded into a I went here then did this now over here blah, blah, blah. This is unacceptable to me for my audience and I will do what I can to right the ship. Please permit me to at least attempt a quasi-entertaining blog. I may fail but I am human...

I realized that I didn't end up reflecting on the portion of Walden I read while in Austin. I felt lazy and didn't edit my post to do that either and I suppose this exemplifies where I am in my effort. This has changed I promise you and now for the inner workings of the man we call, "douche" .. I mean "Alex" :)

Me and the Mississippi River

I didn't read Walden for awhile and I think it was because I hit a bit of a dry spot and wasn't eager to go back to the book. I pushed through and this is what I found. In this section of, "economy" he laid out his expenditures and his income during the first year he squatted on his land in rural New England. Not too exciting right? right. Well he did this to illustrate that you can live on very little money provided you sought to provide for yourself. He worked the soil around his property and was able to feed himself sans a few products he couldn't make himself. After a year he spent a bit more than what a typical man at that time made in 6 weeks. He then philosophized about a lifestyle that consisted of a man taking 6 weeks out of his life a year to work for another so that he may be completely unencumbered the rest of the year. Thoreau said the only truly free man is the day laborer. Quite a radical statement in my opinion. He says the day laborer does that which needs to be done for the day and once complete and all accounts settled he no longer needs to worry about the work or the industry or what have you. The owner must engross himself in the industry he chooses to try and make a living at and is subject to the boom times and famine of that industry. The owner takes on liability and must invest greatly solely in a single market that may have a great deal of volatility to it.

So what did this communicate to me? To me this spoke to simplicity. Outside of these readings I have found people bring up Thoreau and his writings and I understand that he was an advocate of minimalism and self sustainability. I understand that those many people we saw and met up in Humboldt county are seeking the things he advocated. I agree that we do need to strip our lives of the many distractions we unknowingly heap on ourselves. We need to re tune ourselves to what creates happiness and what can add to happiness but not create it. We need to redefine how we assess a, "Successful life." I must find how I want my life to be what I do daily or weekly that I find true value in and what I may strive for but not be so committed to that it can affect the joy in my life. I still have feelings of how to make at least XXXX amount of money a year and all the different things I want. I need to fight that and write down the things that have true value and the steps I will take to make sure those stay in important places in my life.

In Austin a Black Swan!! and some White ones!!!

The bedrock of the river and me

Now more of our tour:

As I said in my previous post Austin was too cool and we had to go back. This time around in Austin we didn't end up going downtown much but we did experience the wilderness around it. The park that we enjoyed when we first arrived, Zilker Park, really turns out to be a hot spot of activity in Austin. We went on a very long walk around the park and river there. It was great to get the exercise and feel the brisk air.  We then went to a part of the park that is much denser in foliage. We first had lunch then busted out the bikes to ride the trails. Well really quickly we realized that the trails were not conducive bike riding. I thought we could find a trail but Anna wasn't having it and we ended up parking the bikes and heading out on foot with me a little butt hurt from getting turned down on the bike ride. In retrospect,  walking was definitely the best choice though. The trails were somewhat maintained but there were difficult parts to it. The river was dried up and there were parts where you cross over the bedrock to get to the main trail on the other side. The walk was moderately difficult. We some some people bouldering and doing some rock climbing. All in all it was a good time and we felt like we worked off some of the food that we have been splurging on lately.

Our trail on our hike

A cold front moved in once again and really created a lame situation yet again. We found ourselves chilling in a Barnes and Nobles staying warm and doing not much. We heard reports of freezing rain in Houston which was our next stop :(. I spoke with my Uncle who lives in Houston and he gave us the latest on the conditions. At about 5:00pm we got a call from him that the conditions were good and we should have a go at making it there. I said alright and we were on our way. This drive ended up being very sketchy. It got dark somewhat quickly, which is something I don't want to drive in for the most part. The wind was pretty bad in some places and pushed Maander around quite a bit. Lastly, the road sometimes appeared to be wet and it was so cold outside I feared that ice may develop on the road. I just couldn't stop imagining getting hit by a strong wind right when we go over a bridge that has ice on it and that sends us into a spin or something. I just started praying that God would let us know if we needed to stop and abort the trip. We rolled into a town called Gidding about 60 miles into the trip and we decided that if we drive by a Walmart we would stop for the night. About a half mile down the road lo and behold a Walmart! God's way of saying chill for the rest of the night :)

The temp was supposed to get down to like 20 and with wind chill about 13 so we knew it would be a rough time. We busted out our sleeping bag that is rated to 20 degrees and we piled on the blankets as well. Turned out my biggest problem was sweating too much during the night :). I woke up in the middle of the night with my long john t-shirt soaked from my sweat and I had to peel it off. We slept in late and waited for the warmest part of the day to continue our travels to Houston.

Me and Uncle Gary at the races

We rolled into Houston at about 3pm and went downtown before meeting up with my Uncle. We ate at this excellent Cuban/Mexican joint where Anna got some great tacos and I had an average torta. We walked the streets downtown and there just wasn't much going on. I guess the people were all working stiffs in their offices downtown. I called my Uncle after a bit and headed to his apartment. My uncle was kind enough to let Anna and I use his bed and his apartment was so small he went and spent the night at a friends house. We had free reign and we raided his cupboards for food and drink. We caught up on all the TV we missed on hulu and nbc.com. You know I gotsta have my Office and Parks and Rec, and Community :).

Some horses crossing the finish!!!
I didn't win this race :(

We went to this nice steakhouse with my Uncle that night and the next day after being lazy for most of it we went to the mall to see what people are like in Houston. Houston is nice and all, really big, but it just didn't charm to it. From my understanding Houston is big and there is a lot to do there but you have to know what you want to do and where. That makes it difficult for us. Well when we were chilling at my uncle's Anna spotted a thing for some horse racing that was going on and it had 50 cent beers and 1.50 wine! That's great lets go and my Uncle was excited to go as well. This was the first time I really spent time at a racetrack and it turned out good. It would make a great guys' night out or something. We saw the thoroughbreds race and I started to put money on them. My first race I chose a winner and ended up winning 10 bucks woohoo. Well I shoulda stopped there because that's as high as I got up. By the end of the night I was down 6 bucks but it was a good time. We had good food and some beautiful horses.



We left the next day and this would be the longest drive yet for Maander. About 280 miles to Baton Rouge. We want to get to Florida but we don't want to miss out on some of the great southern history and sites. For the most part Maander handled the trip like a champ. He has been doing this thing lately where he will like hiccup. As if the engine isn't getting a spark for just like a half second then spark up again as if nothing every happened. I suspect it to be either the distributor, points, spark plug wires, or coil. I have replacement parts for all of those except the coil so I am not too stressed provided we stay safe. Oh the joys of an old car :)

We got into LA and soon saw swamps
for the first time

Baton Rouge has been pretty cool. It is a big college town and everyone is very proud of LSU. You see purple and gold everywhere and it is like the town revolves around the college. We hung out at a coffeehouse by campus when we rolled in then stayed at a Walmart. It was a Saturday night and we parked somewhat towards the IHOP that was in the complex. This was a mistake because near 2 am everyone decided that's where they wanted to be so the parking lot got really loud and we had to get up and dressed and re park the bus away from all the people. We later found out that that spot wasn't very good because there have been shootings in the past there because of all the young people starting drama.

This looks like some propaganda pic
for the LSU mascot Mike.
Its not just an accident
cute ain't he :)

The bronze Mike
LSU is very proud of their mascot

We woke up on Sunday and had these things called Beignets. They are unique to Louisiana from my understanding and they are basically fried dough with powder sugar on them. Nom Nom Nom and I had a bunch of powdered sugar on my jacket. We went to University Baptist Church and got there early enough to go to the College group. I can't decide if I am the weird old dude that shows up to college group but I am just going to forget that and be around people I enjoy and seem to be a little more fun loving than those people that are sticks in the mud that are around my age. We met the people there and told them about our journeys. We heard their Bible Study and it turned out to be a book I have read a long time ago hehe. Before big church I chit-chatted with a guy named Tommy and he invited us to get some southern food afterwards at this place called Chimes. It was really good food. We had Boudin and Alligator, and Fried Catfish. It was great and we even got a tour of the LSU campus by Tommy, he used to be a student ambassador so he knew a ton about the college.

The original Capitol building

After the meal Anna and I went down to where the Govornor's mansion was and the State capitol. We got invited by Tommy to go to this worship service at this other church at 7 and in the meantime we looked at the great architecture in Baton Rouge. We are now getting to the parts of the US where it is really old. Some of the buildings have been around for almost 200 years and the styles of buildings are very unique and cool. The current Capitol is the tallest of all of the US's Capitols and was built in the 1930s. It really looked great and had an Empire State building feel to it. Not sure of the name of the style of building. We walked in but they closed at 4:30pm and it was 4:20. we saw the lobby and that was basically it then just chilled on the lawn for awhile and enjoyed the great weather we were having.

Current Capitol I like it a lot

We went to the worship service Tommy invited us to and he said it was cool if we spent the night at his apartment with his 3 other room mates. We were able to shower up and play on his Kinect. That was fun and we just talked to Tommy and just let him know about some of our journey's and some of the things we have realized on the trip. He is planning a trip around the world once he graduates so he talked about the fund raising he is doing for that and the details with that.

Looking down the steps into downtown Baton Rouge

It was great meeting Tommy and all the people at University Baptist and we felt very welcomed. I guess Mardi Gras is going to start on Saturday so we are thinking about just hanging out in Louisiana until then. If it is this close we have to right? Well we are in New Orleans now hanging in a Coffeehouse in the French Quarter. The cemeteries look crazy here because they don't bury people they just have mausoleums if that is the correct name for them. We haven't seen too much desolation or damage here yet. We parked Maander and a guy name Gabriel complimented us on the bus then we just started talking about the town. He gave us some suggestions on places to check out. I asked him if there were places we should avoid and he gave us a run down of the seedier areas so we will be sure to avoid those places.

Pray for us and we hope to continue to Florida and just keep this journey going. I am getting pretty homesick and I miss all you guys back in Sacramento. Maybe I will have a Skype night and see if anyone wants to talk over Skype

Peace

Austin, San Antonio, Snow, and Austin, TX

Took a small sabbatical from writing. Not because I have become sick of it but because of the circumstances. We ran into some really lame weather and when that happens things tend not to occur and I don't think you want to hear about the television shows I have been watching lately.

Austin State Capitol
I like how it looks

We left Melody and Stephen's and got to Austin. We went straight to Zilker park and made some lunch. This is a big park on the edge of downtown. The weather was terrific and we met some very nice people that gave us some suggestions on where to go. The park had tons of people there recreating and just felt great. We grabbed our Mexican blanket and laid out on the grass and watched the people play with their dogs or throw the frisbee. Shockingly, I started read Walden. I will discuss that later.

Austin Cityscape
from Zilker Park

Me gettin my chill on and
my Walden on

Once we were done relaxing, we did a walk along the river. There is a hot spring that apparently is what the indians and white folk fought over in this area to then establish the town. we walked around there and we saw some awesome wildlife. I didn't expect to see turtles in this stream but we saw multiple and they were pretty good sized. We saw 4 chillin' on a log and had to get a pic. Anna took a pic from a distance and I wanted one pretty close up. I went down this steep incline and then I go to have Anna hand me the camera. Fumbled!! the camera bounces out of my hand and rolls right into the river where the turtles freak out and jump in the water. I rush down and get the camera. We were a bit panicked and in the process Anna tried turning the camera on while it was soaking. Well who knows whether it would have been ok without it being turned on but we were unable to revive the camera after days of trying ways of fixing it. Big bummer and now we are out another 100+ bucks getting a new camera, which is waterproof :). Those of you who were very sad that we would be gone for a year don't worry, we ain't making it that long.

Edge of park looking to Austin

What we took a pic of moments before the camera
went into the drink

We always keep an eye on our weather which is very important to us. According to all the weather news sources it said that the night we got into Austin the temp would drop really rapidly and there would be 20-30mph winds. Kinda savage weather even though at the moment the weather was ideal. We camped out in a Walmart and were woken up at 3am with the wind just going nuts. It was pushing Maander from side to side and we started thinking we may have to reposition or something to try and make it through. I get to a window and see that Maander is actually already in the ideal position to reduce the effects of the wind. We just had to deal with the whipping back and forth. I thought it felt crazier than it actually was and though it took us awhile to fall back asleep because of nerves, we made it through the night. From there on out the temp was stupid cold. We went to a Barnes & Nobles in the morning getting out of the cold and chilled there for a really long time. The next two days had us just trying to stay out of the temperature. We got a night in a Best Western using the last of my points I accrued and in the morning the hot water didn't work. We were able to parle the non working hot water into a reduced price for the next night and they got the water working about mid day. We just chilled in the hotel and watched tv.

very cold

effing cold!!
me showing of my jacket prowess in the hotel

Snow was coming and to try and stay out of it or to reduce the effects of it we headed down to San Antonio where we would meet up with Micah, Anna's brother. We spent our last night in a hotel down there and Micah stayed in the room too because he didn't have to report for duty at the Fort he was stationed at till the next day.

Our view when we woke up
after the snow San Antonio

Right by the hotel.
Thought it was interesting looking

We woke up to a thin layer of snow all over. There looked to be no cars on the freeways but the surface streets seemed ok. We stayed as long as we could in the hotel then left for a coffee shop till the snow got done melting. The coffee house we chose was downtown which turned out not to be the best idea. The tall buildings kept the streets from receiving sun so there was still snow covered street where cars were slipping and sliding. I was very careful with Maander and we did fine but there were a couple of people driving as if they were brain dead.

The Alamo!!

The riverwalk

San Antonio's downtown is really expensive to park in and there are no hidden spots for free parking as best we can tell. We ended up going outside downtown and parking and then walking in. We saw the Alamo and Riverwalk. San Antonio seemed like an alright place but didn't have the charm Austin did. We saw what we saw then went to a Walmart and spent the night just outside the main city.

For the Superbowl we met up with someone Anna knew from CFO named Jonah. He is in the army like her brother and he was having a little Superbowl party. He said we could stay the night so we gladly accepted. We got to know him, his wife and their really cute 3 year old Caleb. We went to the church they were checking out in the morning then just hung around till the game got started. It was funny because it started at 5:30 which sounds really late to me because I am used to California start time of like 2 or 3. We pigged out and watched the game good times.

Anna and I decided that we would return to Austin because it seemed like such a cool town and we barely got to experience it. After spending the night at Jonah and Brandy's we headed back to Austin. We just got here this morning and we went straight to the Capitol building. they have free guided tours there which is pretty sweet so we went on that and ate at their cafeteria which had good food for a reasonable price. We are just chilling at a coffee shop now and the barista has given me a bunch of places to check out here in Austin so we will have to discover the Austin that natives know. Peace out and I am happy in Austin :) so far if I were to live anywhere except Cali it would be Austin. We will be heading to Houston and visiting my Uncle Gary!!!

These steps don't seem safe

At the japanese
botanical gardens

GQ?