So I would have loved to post something last night, but I was probably the most exhausted I’ve ever felt. Sorry you had to wait another day for this post, but it’s here now!

Yesterday we reached California pretty early on after starting to drive. I believe it’s only about 50 miles from Kingman, AZ. I was so excited when we reached the California border I started fist-pumping in the air outside my window. Pretty sure the cars around me thought I was crazy.

The rest of the drive wasn’t too thrilling. California really didn’t get exciting until we reached Bakersfield. That town was one of the most adorable little towns I’ve ever seen. Lots of palm trees, flowers, and cute little restaurants. We stopped at the Sequoia Sandwich Co. for lunch. Those sandwiches were the best ones I’ve had in a while.

Anyways, we finally made it to the hotel where my dad was staying near the airport. Traffic was horrendous… as usual for California. We pretty much just dropped off a few things and then headed straight for my place because I was wayyyy too excited to actually see it in person and meet my new roommates. We were able to park right on the street in front of the place although it was in front of a garage, but we were told that it would be okay just to unload stuff so that was good. Street parking is crazy to find at times and we had a bazillion things to carry in so it all worked out very well.

My roommates are awesome! There’s Jillian, Katie, and Melissa. I’ve met all of them, but haven’t hung out too much with them yet as I’ve been so busy with my dad trying to get everything set up.

Last night we went to Sanraku for dinner in Japantown. We both got some tempura shrimp and vegetables and it was really really good. After that we were both so exhausted so we just headed back to the hotel (me too since I still don’t have a bed). Tomorrow I’ll update you all on my weekend here so far… it has been one hectic day today and I’m way too tired to write about it!

Stats for yesterday’s drive:

Food:
Breakfast - Continental - free
Lunch - Sequoia Sandwich Co. - $17.10
Dinner - Sanraku - $30.66 including tip

Gas:
5.8 Gallons at 2419 miles - $18.32
10.425 Gallons at 2822 miles - $34.91

Ashley

I’m pretty sure today was the longest driving day we’ve had so far. I’m exhausted while writing this, but I hope I can make this post somewhat entertaining.

Right out of Amarillo my dad and I stopped by the Cadillac Ranch as you can see in the picture I posted earlier. It was really random. Like you’re out in the middle of nowhere and BAM. Cadillacs are sticking out of the ground. I really enjoyed it. Wish I had a can of spray paint with me so I could paint my name on one of the cars.

After leaving the Cadillac Ranch we pretty much saw lots of NOTHING. The land is beautiful and such, but 12 hours of looking at the same thing gets pretty boring I must say. Luckily my dad and I have a few ways of entertaining ourselves while out on the road. I brought this “Would You Rather” book I got from my brother a while back. Some of the questions are quite hilarious. Would you hit your grandmother straight up in the back of the neck for $16,500? Toughy. :)

We entered New Mexico and finally reached Albuquerque for lunch time. I Yelped a good place to eat and found amazing reviews at this one place called Padillo’s. WOW it was good. I got the Taco Plate which came with 2 tacos, beans, and rice and 2 sopapillas all for 6 bucks. Great deal, and great food! All the houses in New Mexico look like… Mexican. Also I learned that Albuquerque is the highest elevated metropolitan city in America and a whopping 5,300 ft above sea level. I think the highest point we got to today was 7,335 ft above sea level at the Arizona Divide which neither of us knew existed.

There really wasn’t much else to see after leaving Albuquerque. Many mountains. We saw the rockies… etc. etc. OH and wouldn’t you know it apparently snowed recently in Arizona. There was snow on the ground while driving through it. Not a lot. But still… this is Arizona we’re talking about. Hot, desert-like land. It was weird.

My dad and I are settled into our lovely Hampton Inn room. There’s an In-N-Out in walking distance. Be jealous. Ready to get to San Francisco tomorrow that’s for sure. I think we’ll finally get there around 6:30 Pacific Time. I’m SO EXCITED. And that’s all for today!

Today’s Stats:

Food:
Breakfast - Continental - free
Lunch - Padillo’s - $19 including tip
Dinner - Cracker Barrel - $22.02 including tip and some candy we bought :)

Gas:
9.607 Gallons at 1579 miles - $26.31
10.382 Gallons at 1942 miles - $32.90
7.646 Gallons at 2213 miles - $22.93

Ashley

My Uncle Brad suggested my dad and I go see the Cadillac Ranch right outside of Amarillo, TX. So 10 minutes into our trip today we saw it and stopped for pictures. It was pretty insane! Apparently whoever did this wanted people to graffiti all over the cars. There were hundreds of spray paint cans on the ground. This is art like I’ve never seen it before!

If there’s one thing I learned about today, it’s that Oklahoma has horrible roads. But I’ll get to that. My dad and I started off the morning with a delightful Hampton Inn Continental Breakfast. I enjoyed it very much if I do say so myself. We got on the road at about 8:30 this morning and headed West (duh). Our next stop was Amarillo, Texas. I’d never heard of that city before, but apparently before even knowing, my good friend Mr. Cliff Bleszinski was having a beer with me last week and literally said, “…what are you going through Amarillo, Texas or something?” Random.

I drove most of the way through Arkansas. Before getting to Little Rock the land was extremely flat, full of farms and hundreds of trucks on the road. After passing Little Rock the land was very hilly and scenic. Still with lots of farms. And trucks. Exciting, I know.

I was asleep when we hit Oklahoma, but soon after hitting the Oklahoma border I was awakened. How? The horrible roads. I woke up and and I-40 was a one-lane, pot-hole filled road. It was like that for a while, but then we got to downtown Oklahoma, and that was better.

Finally my dad and I arrived in Texas. We stopped by a huge landmark somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. A 190 ft. tall, 2.5 million pound cross. There were statues all around it displaying Jesus’ journey dying on the cross. There was also a tomb that was supposed to look like where Jesus had risen from the dead and gone to Heaven. It was actually pretty cool, and I enjoyed it.

My dad and I stopped by one of the most “gimicky” restaurants for dinner— The Big Texan Steakhouse. It was awesome and corny all put together. The outside had bright flashing lights to attract people from I-40. Apparently there is a 72 oz steak challenge. If you eat the whole thing (including like 5 side items) in less than 60 minutes you get it for free. Otherwise it’ll set you back about $200 bucks. The inside had a gift shop, slot machines, a live rattlesnake, a live band, homemade fudge, random cowboy crap everywhere, you get the picture. The food was actually pretty good though. We both had steak, and then the live band decided to come play at our table. We asked for some bluegrass (my dad loves bluegrass). All-in-all it was a pretty wonderful experience.

Dad and I are at the hotel now. Another long day tomorrow. We are traveling to Kingman, Arizona. I’m headed to bed now. Goodnight!

Stats for the day:

Food
Breakfast - Continental - Free
Lunch - Taco Mayo - $10.53
Dinner - Big Texan Steakhouse - $49.24 including tip

Gas
9.460 Gallons at 1013 mile mark - $26.48
7.893 Gallons at 1253 mile mark - $22.09

Goodnight!

Ashley

Yah girrrrrrrl!

Dad now reppin’ the West Side!

My dad and I have finally made it through day one of driving. We are now settled into our lovely Hampton Inn hotel off Perkins Road in Memphis Tennessee. We passed by many interesting things… including the Cherokee National Forest, a city called Bucksnort, TN (odd), a bridge under construction, a detour that was 45 minutes out of the way since I-40 is experiencing a landslide at the moment… a lot of stuff.

The best part was actually making it here to Memphis. I used Yelp to find the best BBQ in town, and sure enough, the place we went has been voted #1 in Memphis for the past 24 years. I could taste why. It was SO good. If you’re ever in Memphis, stop by Corky’s Memphis BBQ. I had the BBQ plate, and my dad had the dry rack of ribs.

Here are the stats for today:

Food:
Breakfast - McDonalds - $9.67
Lunch - Long John Silvers - $13.15
Dinner - Corky’s Memphis BBQ - $30.53 including tip

Gas:
8.107 Gallons at 300 mile mark - $22.37
9.6 Gallons at 626 mile mark - $27.85

Tomorrow it’s on to Amarillo, TX. I guess Texas is known for steak, so we are going to try to get dinner at a steakhouse or something. I wish I could type more, but I’m overly exhausted right now. I’m hoping I’ll get more sleep tonight than I did last night. Until tomorrow!

Ashley

Most of you following this blog probably already know who I am, but if not, here’s a little bit about myself:

I’m a 23 (almost 24) year old interaction designer. I graduated last May and have been working at Red Hat for the past year. I have decided to take my journey elsewhere— elsewhere being the amazing city of San Francisco. Why? Because that city has so much more to offer me than Apex, North Carolina right now— career-wise. I’d love to eventually end up back in North Carolina, but I’m excited for the incredible journey ahead.

On Monday, April 12th, 2010, I will be leaving with my dad to drive across the country. We will arrive on Thursday, April 15th. There will be 3 stops including Memphis Tennessee, Amarillo Texas, and Kingman Arizona. I’m hoping to be able to blog every day of the trip including pictures and hopefully video footage as well.

Once I get there, I’ll try to keep this blog updated with some of my San Francisco experiences. I might include great places to eat, fun places to go, and so on. So if you’re planning a trip to San Francisco in the future, you can consider this a good travel guide :)

I have already received many suggestions for stops along the way (Nick’s BBQ and Catfish in Arkansas— thanks Beth!). If there are other suggestions, I would love to hear them. E-mail me at xashleyj@gmail.com if you have any good suggestions.

I am in the process of packing as much of my life as possible into cardboard boxes. I really need to get a move on. Tomorrow is my going away party in Raleigh (thanks Jack, Scott, and Chris!). I’m really sad to leave, but I am blessed and thankful to have such a supportive family and group of friends. I’m going to make it a point to visit often, and hopefully some of my friends from back home will be able to come visit me as well!

That’s all for now. You may or may not hear from me before Monday!

Ashley