Why did I have to pick up my brother's car? It is a complicated, long story, but in short my brother and his wife had to drive out to Memphis from Spokane where they had to pick up a car her mom gave her. Memphis is something like a 26 hour drive from Spokane. So, they had two cars they had to get back to Spokane. So what does the sister do? I help them out of course! I took a car off their hands and am now driving it around the country for them. :)
(Jumping on the main street in Nashville)
We spent a couple days in Dallas catching up with a number of friends. From there Aaron & I split up, he headed west & I headed east. I stopped in Houston for a night & caught up with an old friend and visited the NASA space center. Initially I was disappointed with the space center as the main area looked like it was a large McDonalds park for kids, with balls and climbing things. However once I got out to see the large space shuttle and the rockets I was happy I came. It was great to see the actual ship that has taken American guys up to the moon.
(Rockets at the NASA Space Center)
From Houston I headed to New Orleans. I was not impressed with New Orleans, especially the French Quarter. After walking down parts of the famous Bourbon street I really just wanted a shower. It was tacky, not that exciting, gross, and really smelled bad. The architecture was interesting on a few of the side streets off the main track. This fact gave me at least consultation for driving all the way down there.
After New Orleans, I drove across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. Just a few states. :) The highlights were Charleston, Savannah and the Appalachian Mountains. Near Charleston I stopped into an old plantation to see what life used to be like in the eastern states for the rich and the slaves.
(On one of the nice streets in the New Orleans, French Quarter)
I had an adventure driving through the Appalachian Mountains. Apparently I decided to drive through at the same time a large winter storm was rolling through. I was driving on some windy small roads up and down the hills where I could only see about 10 feet in front of me. There was about 3 inches of snow on the ground and more was coming down fast. It was nerve racking and exciting all at the same time. While all of this was happening it was also oddly comforting to be back in a crazy winter storm in the mountains. I suppose it made me feel like I am back to the land of the familiar.
(Driving down the road)
On a side note, as I have traveled every where I go people want me to try their local food and specialty. This has lead some to ask and for me to contemplate what America's food specialty is. What food comes from the states? At first this seemed like a daunting task and I was thinking, maybe no food. Than I remembered Peanut Butter and all the goodness that comes from peanut butter. I have started to create a list and thanks to Aaron it grew fast as we drove together. So, for anyone that is interested below is the list of food I believe came from the states. I have researched some to verify, but if you disagree with any or want to add more, please let me know. :)
I am currently in a town Chattanooga, Tennessee and from here I plan to head west towards New Mexico. So until next time...
~Laugh & Love Life~
Breakfast: French toast, biscuits & gravy, chicken fired steak & eggs, and Home fries
Deserts: Butterfingers, M&Ms, Root beer float, and Pumpkin pie
Dinner:Hamburgers, American pizza (New York, Chicago style, etc), Philly cheese steaks, enchiladas, chimmy changas, fajitas, kung-pow chicken, fish tacos, BBQ with BBQ sauce slathered on everything, Texan Chilli with cornbread, Mac & Cheese, Fried chicken, types of sandwiches (like subway, club, & Reuben), sriracha sauce, and the concept to add cheese to everything
Snacks: American cheese, cheese-its, buffalo wings, Ants on a log!, Jello, Ranch dressing (dipping anything into it), katchup, tatter-tots, pepper-jack cheese, chicken nuggets, hush puppies, and crispy creams
Drinks: Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Coca-cola, root beer, Soft drinks in general, steam beers, Bourbon, Four loco, Frapachinos
