So we are finally here in NC. Ive been wanting to write about our trip for the last few day but i just haven't been feeling up to it. Well, i am up to it now. We left our house in San Diego on Tuesday the 28Th around noon we arrived in Raleigh 51 hours later. It was a long crazy drive.
We had planned on driving through the night on Tuesday but around 4 am we reach Albuquerque and we realized that we were gonna die if we didn't stop. We stayed at a ghetto little hotel. it was nice. A while ago i bought a road trip across the USA book. I am so glad i bought it. It had so many neat little things in it but our favorite part was the food part. It had all of these recommendations for good food. it was fun. The first place we stopped was in some random town in Arizona, we ate at the space age hotel and restaurant. they served Mexican food, i thought it was weird. So after we slept for like 5 hours, I did not sleep well on this trip (usually i get in the car and i pass out within 20 min and that never happened on the trip, i was exhausted), we drove to Texas. I was so excited to go to the Cadillac Ranch, I hadn't been there since i was little and it was so neat. I wish i would have taken pictures with my digital camera but i only took them with film... I'm a dummy. We then went on to a little BBQ restaurant where i ate Texas Toast in Texas. Then i got hit on by some cowboys at the gas station. Then i saw lots of cows. it was everything i ever thought it would be. I know that after Texas i drove some but I really don't remember much of it. There was just so much driving and so many hills and trees and nothing. So because Matt and I stopped the first night we decided that we were gonna power on through the next night. I was trying to sleep in the tiny car that night and it wasn't going so well. I remember opening my eyes somewhere in Arkansas and it was pouring rain and Matt was driving like 40 mph. It was terrifying. I have never seen rain like that for such a long period of time. it went on for at least an hour but probably longer than that. We finally got out of the rain and i fell asleep for like 45 min and then it was my turn to drive. We made it through the night. It was hard but i am so glad we didn't stop. We were about 60 miles outside of Raleigh when we hit our first bit of traffic. It was not fun at all. We were so close to home and we were at a dead stop. I seriously thought i was going to go crazy. But we finally got past it and we made it. It was a 40 hour drive and we did it in 51 hours. I do not recommend this for anyone to do ever.
We are both well and safe here. I haven't really had a chance to do much because i don't have a car but i will soon. I am so nervous about living this far away for everyone i know. I already miss California like crazy.
2 comments:
The move from California to a "Southern state" is always rough. It involves quite a bit of culture shock, a realization that the lack of huge population generally means lack of "traditional" things to do, and it almost always involves a sense of identity crisis. How you survive and whether you thrive will depend upon whether you view yourself as an outsider and remind people of it and whether you have a sense of humor and adventure about the whole thing. (My grandma annoys "the fire" out of me--how's that for a nice Southern phrase--every time she comes South by saying, "Well, in California we blah blah and in California we..."). The only reason I bring it up is because for years I identified myself as "Californian" and I suffered for it. I had an attitude about "us" versus "them" instead of just viewing things as different. If they define drag racing and BBQ as entertainment, that's not wrong. It's just different. If there isn't anything to do, they probably notice it, too. Until I learned not to criticize, people always viewed me as an outsider and didn't accept me. I don't know about the accent in North Carolina, but there are certain Southern accents that STILL drive me nuts. I just have to remember they are not wrong, just different. And I try never, ever to view someone as stupid because of the way he or she speaks--I let WHAT that person says seal the verdict on that determination. haha
With time, you'll start to understand the strange phrases. I've been here a very, very long time and just the other day someone at work walked up to me and said, "Do you know where the drop cord is?" Thinking I didn't hear her correctly, I said, "The what?" She said, "The drop cord!!!! Where is it?" I just laughed and said, "I have NO clue what a drop cord is." (By the way, it's a surge protector power cord.) And my husband says strange things and conjugates things oddly on occasion. Don't let those things drive you nuts. Enjoy the experience. You can always go "home" one day if you really want to. I can't wait to read more of your blog!
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