cary (city) town

now that we've been here a few weeks now, thought i'd thrown down some recent observations.

- cary, where we live, has over 100,000 people living in it. yet, it's still called a town. better for outsider image and insider housing costs, i admit. but not as good for all the 45 mph streets just after 3pm.

- everyone here has this whole "i'm active" thing going. during the first week we lived here, all, and i mean everyone, of the people i saw around our apartment complex were either wearing running shoes, walking their dog, or doing something else which eluded to something non-sedentary.

- however, most of those said people, instead of walking the 100 or so yards to the dumpsters, take their trash inside their car and drive it down to the end of the parking lot.

- there's a trader joe's (the only one in north carolina is in our city), cost plus, and a price club's nearby. that rules.

- trees. lots and lots of trees. and squirrels. nature rules too.

anywho, though i've lived in different places all over the world, this is the first time i've lived in a different State in the US. i'm enjoying it, and looking forward to more discovery (even as things, over time, become more normal...)

man, i miss this...

but it was REALLY GOOD to see this...

arrival.

after 3,432 miles on interstates, and another 200+ more heading off the main stretch to see stuff (ie. grand canyon, sky city, memphis, etc.), we're here.

it's gonna be weird to wake up tomorrow and not have to get in the car, hit mcdonalds for coffee, head to a gas station for gas / diet mountain dew, and start the day on the road. though it's nice to be here, we had a great time along the way. looking forward to our next time out...

thanks so much to anthony, don and bonnie, and jeff and rebecca for housing us along the way. that ruled. thanks for being a special part of it all. we hope to see you again soon.

now, it's bed. i'm tired. thanks for reading. we'll post more pictures in a few days...

seem to be having issues with posting from picasa to blogger. awesome.

anywho, we're in chattanooga now, staying with some friends. we left little rock this morning, after driving around the city proper a bit. saw the old courthouse and the clinton library building. we also enjoyed the older architecture and metal bridges which stretch across the arkansas river.

we had lunch in memphis, after crossing the mississippi, at topps bbq (which we highly recommend). then it was a turn south at nashville and off the 40 to get on the 24. after being on the 40 for three straight days, it was a little strange to go take another freeway. it was becoming familiar, seeing those signs, being on that concrete and seeing all those long-distance semi's. the 40- a faithful partner in our trip, for sure.

tomorrow we're meeting some friends in atlanta at GB (number 13!), and then on to whiteville, NC for our final destination. surely everyone who has taken a long-distance road-trip has already said as much, but it IS quite strange to think that after tomorrow we won't be on the road for 8+ hours of the day anymore...

road trip | day 4


loved that short, yet poingnant, explanation.

new mexico's all about mesas...

"sky city," the oldest still-inhabited
settlement in America.

ending the day at a road house in texas...
noise, smoke and chilli. delicious.

road trip | day 3

intake stations, back of hoover dam

the grandest of canyons
(photos can't ever come close)

me at the grand canyon

twin arrows gas
(an almost-intact route 66 attraction)


(the other arrow was pretty much toast)

road trip day 2


tooling around calico

"the meadows"

lots of shiny-ness out here...

outside the mirage, every hour on the hour

we're enjoying our time, the car's running like a champ, and the more we head east, the cheaper the gas gets (it went from $3.23 to $2.61 when we crossed over into nevada). incidentally, that's real good for road trippers...

the road trip day one


golden gate


ghirardelli sign


before BART