The roadtrip 2014 in The Wanderer

I left Massachusetts on the 12th and it is now the 23! The days literally flew by and I lost track of time, which is a great feeling. Waking up every day in a different state is amazing! I have gone on many road trips before, and each time is awesome! This time we went through NYC to Delaware and I wanted to avoid DC so we drove all the way through Delaware and Maryland to this crazy huge bridge that connects Maryland to Virginia! It was called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. R and I filmed our journey over and under it on our GoPro and it turned out pretty cool looking! From Virginia to South Carolina I felt really happy. We had finally left New England and I never want to go back! The southern accent was suddenly there, as well as leaves on trees and GREENERY. We drove through NC and we stopped at a cute antique shop so I could get some antique postcards for my pen pals. Afterward, we drove straight to Myrtle Beach and we were pleasantly surprised with how awesome the place was. We originally just planned to visit Brookgreen Gardens, but we decided to get a hotel for the night. It was only 50 bucks since it is "off" season and it had an ocean view! The beach reminded me of Nicholas Sparks movies and it was relaxing walking along the shore, gathering cool shells and such, and NOT being surrounded by a ton of people. R and I were exhausted because we drove through the night and only had a couple of hours of not-very-good sleep at a rest stop. My car is FULL to the brim with all of our stuff and we did not have much room to be "comfy". We decided to get some food at the only dog friendly place we could find via BringFido.com. The service was horrible! It took our server 30 minutes just to realize we were waiting to order food and we were not even given a menu. I asked for a Red Bull and Jagar and she gives me a Jagar and Rumple, and then tries to argue with me when I tell her my drink is not correct. We finally got our food and it wasn't even good! Oh well. We still loved Myrtle Beach and want to go back there again one day!
The next day we dropped Jasper off at the groomer's and went to Brookgreen Gardens. It was really beautiful, except NOTHING was in bloom like I had imagined. Apparently SC also had a crappy winter. At least we got to see some very beautiful trees and the zoo! Our next destination was NC to visit Andrea and Tyler and the rest of the gang. The town they live in is west of the coast, actually very close to Tenn., so we decided to travel that direction after SC. The GPS kept losing service and we ended up going up this crazy windy road and I was scared we weren't going the right way. Finally it opened up at the top and I wasn't expecting it to be so vast. I imagined driving up the mountain and getting to some small summit or something. I was also worried about my car because Herby is not doing so good and acceleration up slopes is not his forte. Luckily we made it all the way to their place and we were amazed! The place is so awesome! I am very happy for them. I am still hoping they don't settle there permanently because I want us all to live in WA still, but if they do I don't mind settling there for awhile. It was late when we arrived, but we all had some beer and caught up with conversation.
The following day we went to explore Ashville, the "big" town about 30 minutes away. The place was very eclectic, and definitely my type of scene. We stopped at the Wedge, where we were entertained with live music, people dancing as if they were on LSD, green everywhere since St. Patty's was around the corner, and delicious beer! Then they showed us the Mellow Mushroom, which had amazing pizza and awesome service. R and I bought a T-shirt. We drank some more and then traveled around looking for other dog-friendly places. We really lucked out there because it seemed like the entire city was dog-friendly! R and I fell in love with the area, and we can't wait to visit again hopefully this summer/fall!
We stayed one more night in NC and then headed to Alabama to visit my favorite uncle who lives near Huntsville! The drive was only about 6 hours and when we arrived we got some beers and chatted in the backyard. His girlfriend/roommate, Di was very nice! We all got a good buzz going on and then R and I watched them jam out. They are really good! They both sing and he plays the guitar and she plays the ukelele! I am very happy that they both have such a fun hobby they share together and their own little space to practice. He seems much happier with her than Betty. Then it was R and my time to "perform" and we did some APC and Tool songs and it was a lot of fun! We want to get a little set-up like that and hopefully start writing our own music. I felt kind of bad because Di pulled me aside at one point and told me she had been living with him for four years and it was the first time any of his family had come to visit him. I definitely want to visit him again soon, and luckily he doesn't live too far from Andrea and Tyler! The next day we were all hungover and tired and Jasper wasn't doing so good. We took him to the vet and oddly enough he was perfectly fine. He was suddenly acting like the ole happy Jappy again! She gave me some pet pain meds just in case he acted up again, but of course I somehow lost them on the trip. So that was a hundred dollars spent for nothing. At least I know Jasper is okay! Later in the evening we watched "My Cousin Vinny" because apparently everyone in the world had seen it except me. It was actually really funny and quite fitting since it was about two dudes on a roadtrip to LA driving through Alabama. Our next destination was Caralie's in TX. The drive was SO long and we got a late start so we ended up stopping in Little Rock for the night. When we finally got to Caralie's we were really surprised with how it was in the middle of nowhere. We were coming from the North so we went down this highway that went on forever and if we didn't have a full tank of gas I would have been scared because there was nothing for miles and miles, but it felt like I was in Ireland because it was very scenic and unlike the rest of Texas. The place they live is very nice and I can't believe it is only $800 a month! We had some beers and pizza (again) haha and then stayed up a bit chatting. Jordan and R really got a long so I think we are all going to hang out again when he gets back to Cali! I am glad he is getting out of the Army, but at the same time I worry because I know what happens to a lot of guys after active duty and I just hope Jordan finds a job and gets things together post-military. They had to go to bed early, so we said goodnight and the next day R and I had coffee with C and then hit the road. I wish we could have stayed longer, but Caralie's dog was very hyper about seeing Jasper and I would have felt bad staying another night since it was very hard to calm him down.
We drove from TX to Roswell, NM and I was surprised with how ghetto that place is. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't as touristy as I had imagined! There was some stopped train and it seemed like the cars around us were freaking out about it. We heard some guy scream out the window in a very Hispanic accent, SOMETING HAPPENED! And R and I could not stop laughing about it. I don't know why it was so funny, but for the rest of the road trip we would randomly say it and start cracking up. We stayed at a nice hotel though and I found Weinershnitzel and made R try it. Then we went swimming, got some booze, and called it a night. The next day we explored the town, went souvenir shopping, and toured the UFO museum. Everything here was very dog-friendly so I was happy about that. Everyone kept giving Jasper treats and one shop owner gave him an alien toy that he loved! We had a long drive ahead of us so we left around noon and drove all the way to Flagstaff, AZ, which was definitely the longest drive thus far. Again, the roads just went on forever with absolutely nothing not even a gas station. We saw a ton of abandoned towns which I found very bizarre. When we finally crossed into AZ I was very happy. We were almost there! My brother always talks about how he wants to move to Flagstaff, and I had only driven through it once, so I wanted to check it out. We got there and it looked pretty ghetto. Pawn shops everywhere, a ton of cheap motels, and one sizzler. I guess we were in the wrong part, because R went to explore and found a really cool old-town neighborhood. It is a college town, so I figured there had to be some sort of night life! I wanted to explore too, but I couldn't leave Jasper so I stayed in the hotel and relaxed and finally got to have some me time. R and I get a long well, but I need a lot of personal space. He doesn't understand that AT ALL and I get irritated at him A LOT. Sometimes I wish he would just leave me aloneeeeeeeeee. He's a great guy, but I am not and never was in love with him or anything and I wish he could just understand that. I just want to have fun and not anything serious. Anyway, we had a long talk about us on the road trip and I think he is finally understanding what we are and what we are not.
The next day we left for Jerome, and decided to drive through Sedona. I am so happy we did because the place was so cool! Now R wants to move there haha. We enjoyed the warm weather and awesome views! This town was also very dog-friendly (we lucked out this road trip!) and the people were very nice. We didn't want to leave, there was so much stuff we wanted to do like the Pink Jeep tour or the helicopter ride! But we are definitely going back to visit. We wanted to get back on the road because we still had Jerome to get to and a long drive back to Cali!
Another long and windy road up a mountain (later I found out it is the road with the most turns in a 12 mile radius) Poor Jasper and poor Herby! But when we finally got up the mountain it was SO worth it! I can't believe how cute the town was. The view was AMAZING and breathtaking and reminded me of the Grand Canyon views. The town was like a little biker stop and the roads were so tiny. There were all these old-fashioned shops and "saloons". We finally found Cadeceus Cellars--Maynard's winery and walked in. So awesome! Maynard and wine everywhere--can't go wrong with that! We did some wine tasting and then bought some stuff. We explored Jerome for a bit and found the Puscifer store. So cool! I wish we could have stayed the night there, but we had to hit the road. Another LONG drive and I am so happy my car made it back to Cali in one piece, although it doesn't seem to be doing so good at least we are HERE.