Oldest Town in America - St. Augustine, Florida

We were in St. Augustine a couple days ago and boyyyyyy.... was it hot!

Yatta, Yatta, Yatta ---- That's right. We saw an awesome wax museum with the Seinfeld cast in the front window. Had to post it, I mean how could I not?

We drove into St. Augustine and parked near Fort Matanzas then we walked all up and down the amazing old streets. St. George is the main drag but there are blocks and blocks of shops, restaurants, hotels and other things to see. I had to buy a skirt, a frozen banana, postcards, stickers and a taco salad. Wait, why don't we have any money again?

Oh, right.

We had drinks at Harry's. I had a hurricane, appropriate right? And then we took a picture in front of the Pirate and his Lady store. Also, very appropriate.

More soon, we are currently in Texas. Don't mess with it.

Bowser meet the Ocean... Ocean, Bowser.

Now that Bowser is officially one year old, we thought it best to introduce him to the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean. We headed east from Saxapahaw, N.C. and landed around Carolina Beach near Wilmington, N.C.

It was gorgeous and a perfect temperature - the water wasn't even cold! So, we loved it - Bowser on the other hand thinks it's a little weird. The water coming in and going out all the time - very tricky business. Not so sure what to think about the whole thing. This is why there are no pictures of Bowser in the ocean, sorry. He did manage to get VERY wet though, so no worries.

We stayed just north of Myrtle Beach, S.C. and went to the beach again the next day. As always, there are DOG rules - so we quickly got kicked off Myrtle Beach. Dogs are only allowed before 8am or after 6pm. Rules, rules, I'm sick of all the rules.

I will soon start my own state where all dogs can be off leash ALWAYS and come into every business, and poop and pee in any body of water they choose!! Ha, ha!

Mileage - 233,208

New Orleans or Bust....

Well, we didn't bust. We made it - and apparently 4,300 miles later (since we left Chicago)

It was hard to pick the pictures for this post - I took some great shots of all the old architecture in the French Quarter. I love all the fun bold colors. Shutters, and trim and doors painted different than each other. Here is a picture towards the end our day of us in front of what I deemed my FAVORITE building in New Orleans. Sorry, we look a little worn out and HOT. Guess what, we were worn out and HOT!

Bowser loved New Orleans because there are horse and carriage rides everywhere. I think he thought they were there for his amusement only. Let's just say he whined a lot and pulled on his leash a lot. But still, we are proud of him. I mean he must be socialized if he can just walk around Bourbon Street and be completely okay with everything and everybody.

One of the coolest things we saw besides multiple talented street performers was a wedding reception having a 'parade' right down the middle of Royal Street, just one block south of Bourbon Street. The man with the yellow umbrella was in charge and boy was everybody having fun! Every one of their guests were walking down and swinging white napkins and dancing.

If I could stand the heat, that is how I'd get married. Maybe we can have a parade in the middle of an Alaskan Town?

I regret to say that we didn't try any gumbo, or a po-boy, or any of the amazing New Orleans food that we should have.... I was TOO hot. Couldn't handle anything but a strawberry daiquiri and water!

I couldn't not give a shout out to Wren's newest treasured breakfast spot - Waffle House. Thank God for the South.

Saxapahaw, NC (Pronunciation: Sax - Pa - Ha)

So, we spent last weekend on Gordon's farm in North Carolina. The name of the town can be, and was a little, intimidating to pronounce. Thus, I practiced the whole 4 days we were around. Sax -pa- haw. Sax- pa-haw.

Our friend Gabe, from Evanston, told us about this possible meeting place since we didn't have a firm idea of what we were going to be up to when we got to the Carolina's. The stars aligned and we made it to Saxapahaw just in time to spend the weekend with Gabe, his family, their roommates, and Gabe's wife - Kim.

All in all, our weekend was a wonderful breath of fresh air. Gordon has 5 goats, lots of chickens, a TRAMPOLINE, and lots of kind-hearted good people surrounding him and his land.

This place seems like a very good place to be right now. Land is cheap (I think), organic farms are popping up everywhere, and the old mill in town has been renovated into cool new loft apartments and the BEST 'small-town general store' ever made. This general store is a store/restaurant. It has lots of eco-friendly products, local wine and beer, and the tastiest food this side of the Mississippi. Sorry, that was just fun to write. But, seriously, we hit this place up about 6 times before we left on Monday.

Every Saturday, Saxapahaw has 'Saturdays in Saxapahaw' with live music and a farmer's market. We had fresh goat cheese, some North Carolina style BBQ and ice cream.

Although, I didn't post pictures of Bowser - y'all don't need to worry. He had a great time with his best friend, Dex (Gabe's dog). They played in plenty of fields with long grasses and cool water streams. They even hiked around in the backwoods of Marge's Cat Ranch.

Thanks to: Gordon, Emil, Gabe, Kim, Violet, Jeff, Owen, Krista, Isadora, Eric, Able, Michelle, and everyone else we met but failed to remember your names!

Hooray! We're not in Philly anymore!

Hello! That's right, folks! We left Philadelphia, PA on Thursday! Our truck got finished. Here is a picture of the new door, and a picture of the old door. We cleaned our room out, threw Bowser in the truck and were off!

Drove to Richmond, Virginia that night and stayed with a friend of Wren's - Jake. Good to see him, catch up, have a few beers, and play with his 2 dogs - Remy and Tank and also his 6 DUCKS in his backyard!

Currently in Saxapahaw, N.C. with Gabe, Kim and Gabe's family who has a farm out here! Havin' an amazing time. Nothing like a good ol' small town to get you excited about the continuation of this MASSIVE roadtrip of ours.

Oh, did I mention that Remy is a Great Dane that acts like a cuddly little puppy? Pretty cute, huh?

Food in Philly --- or should I say CHEESE STEAKS?!

Wren has made it his DUTY to figure out which cheese steak in Philly is really worthy of being called "the best cheese steak in Philly".

So, here is what he's found out...

Out of the 6, 7 or 8 cheese steaks he's had while we've been here - this is how he would rate them from #1 to #6, #7, or #8.

1) Geno's (even if he hates to admit it) -- wit whiz.

2) Chickie's and Pete's -- white cheddar sauce from famous crab fries and onions.

3) Rick's - in a high class mall downtown. made to order in front of you.

4) Pat's King of Steaks - too much whiz. get some extra napkins.

5) Steve's Prince of Steaks - good, but called the prince for a reason i guess.

6) Old Friends (some bad delivery that we wouldn't recommend ordering again.)

*DISCLAIMER: Wren still says that the BEST cheese steak that has ever touched his lips has to be --- that's right ---- the Philly's Best in Evanston, IL. Go Figure.

On the other hand, look at me with these MUSSEL's I ordered. I'm getting more brave everyday. They were actually good, I just look a little scared in that picture due to it being the first one and all.

philadelphia, pa

Quit worrying you little kids, you. I wouldn't let us be here in the nation's FREEDOM & LIBERTY capitol - without seeing it.

So don't fret!

We headed to town on Friday of last week. It was a beautiful sunny day. Check out the sky. We wandered around the ENORMOUS, intricate, GORGEOUS building in the center of downtown - and finally found out it is the CITY HALL. It has a wonderful clock tower with a statue of William Penn on top. The picture I took of it also has the sculpture "Clothespin" by Claes Oldenburg (that I have studied in OH so MANY classes) in it. Yay! Cool to see it up close....

We had a cheese steak (Wren) and a salad (Jessie) in Rittenhouse Square while someone was dreaming of eating pigeons (Bowser). A flautist was playing near by - it was a very lovely little picnic I must say.

After that, we headed over to the Liberty Bell area. We had to take turns going in to see the exhibit of the Liberty Bell itself due to having B-dog with us. That's okay though because a whole lot of tourists took it upon themselves to take pictures of our beautiful pup sitting in front of Independence Hall while we were waiting for Wren. I think he's cuter than an old Bell too! No, but seriously, I loved the Liberty Bell exhibit. I had no idea it represented liberty and freedom throughout the years, for so many different groups of people! It's a national symbol! And, now we can safely say we've seen it with our own eyes!

Apparently, Wren was up to a lot of business all day being on his phone. Bowser, his right hand, was ready at any moment to jot a number down, or email a presentation.... as you can see.

WOODSTOCK, NY - tye dye, hippies, and ART

Hi. Hi. Hi. Catching you guys up on what happened BEFORE we got stuck in Pennsylvania (where we are currently still STUCK - 5/17/10). Took a break from the city, in Woodstock, NY right after we left Boston.

It was actually pretty cool to see. We didn't go to the actual sight of the famous 3 day event - but we heard from a very eccentric woman that it has turned into an organic dairy farm... sounds about right.

We ended up spending the night at our first KOA. $30 if you can believe it. But, it had free wi-fi and a dog area that Bowser appreciated greatly.

We wandered around Woodstock - ate at Uncle Juans and Bread Alone, took pictures of hippies who have been around since the original festival in 1969, and were WOW-ed by the amount of artistic things going on in this little town. Galleries everywhere. Very cool.

NYC - all 5 boroughs in a couple of hours....

Ah, the Big Apple. Yep, we were able to make it through Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island in our big ol' truck. Just drivin' through of course...

Didn't run into any problems until PHILLY :) Go figure.

We decided against staying in NYC due to the cost, the hassle of the truck, and ultimately because of our little baby Bowser dog. How spoiled can this DOG get?

We were able to meet up with our friend, Maria, though who lives in Queens and we also got to briefly see Lisa and Shane! Good to see familiar faces in such a BIG place!

Got a couple drinks and some slices of New York style pizza with Maria and then she took us up to see the view from her rooftop! (picture with brown building in the forefront - WOWZA!)

We loved Maria's place and have decided to live a minimalistic, happy life due to Maria's advice! Love you - you tiny little Italian surgeon you!

P.S. Isn't the picture of that cemetery island (what the hell is that place called again?) and the skyline in the background AMAZING?!?

Groundhog's Day in Trevose, PA

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get the energy together to talk about our stay here in Trevose, PA. Honestly - we've been a little depressed. It's kind of like the movie - Groundhog's Day. We wake up everyday hoping that the body shop will call and say "Your truck is ready."

You'll be happy to know that when I told Wren about the title of this blog he said "Shoot. When was Groundhog's Day?"

And I responded "Um, in February."

He then said, "Ok, I need to call my Grandma. It's her birthday soon."

Good times!

See, we have lost COMPLETE track of time! space! cleanliness! and everything else!

Seriously though, we are okay. We have become quite the mall walkers. We have eaten at all the chain restaurants that surround the mall, and we have found all the trails nearby to walk Bowser in.

Included: 2 pictures of our PACKED room, a picture of Bowser in his Red Roof Inn field (about 10 feet from our front door), a picture of cutie pie Wren (check out the beard!) in front of our week-long home number 139, and our rented little red kia - I think it's super cute.

3 week Anniversary!

It's been 3 weeks since we left for this crazy journey - and I never got to post pictures from our party -- so I thought I'd do a shout out to everyone back in Chicago - we miss you!

Sorry, I only had 5 spots to pick for pictures so sorry to the very SPECIAL kids who didn't make the cut.

Maybe next year...

:)