Good morning from Gilroy, California which you might recognize as the Garlic Capital of the WORLD! (You're jealous, right?)
Well, actually, we're not there anymore but that's where we were this morning! We decided to sleep in today because, why not? We packed our bags into the car while our hotel boyfriend stared at us, first from the top of the stairs and then while he smoked his cigarette near his truck. Can you blame the man? We're beautiful. We rolled out of the hotel around 11 or so and made our way to an In-N-Out burger place. It was pretty delicious, though I was not a fan of the fries, I'd rather have Five Guys, ain't gonna lie.
Then it was off to Santa Cruz, California where we attempted to walk the boardwalk but discovered that there is NO parking by the Santa Cruz boardwalk. After a little driving we decided that our heart wasn't in it and made our way to wine. That's where our hearts were. We sampled wine at 4 different local tasting rooms and enjoyed every one. Our servers loved us and the story of us. For those of you who don't know, Colleen, Trish, Eva and me (Nancy) met 10 years ago next month. We wowed the servers with our traveling stories and camping stories. They loved us!
We ended that night at a local brewery and sampled a few different beers. It was a great day!
Sadly, we didn't leave the brewery until after 9 and the camp sites we looked at were booked, so after a little driving we decided it was a hotel night again. But the best part of the decision was hearing T*Star utter the phrase, "I miss camping!" This is NOT a joke. It was only made better by her later quote, "I miss camping and breakfast burritos a'la'pants." (That's me! I'm Pants! I make breakfast burritos!)
So that was our day! I'm the only one awake enough to blog, these ladies are tired! I'm off to bed myself, I hope everyone is enjoying the blog!
Love from Santa Cruz!
Pants (Nancy)
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Okay, NOW I feel like we're in an episode of Full House
Two blogs in one day?! You're welcome!
As Tumbles said, we were just waiting to have electricity/internet to post the blog, so we thought we'd follow through on that and write about today and last night separately!
What can be said about last night?
Well, setting up camp was fairly easy and only took 30 minutes! We're getting faster everyday and though that's awesome, that's not the best part about last night. The best part was the view. We set up camp atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and proceeded to watch the sunset. Cue jealousy, go on. The night ended with hotdogs, sangria and roasted marshmallows while listening to the waves crash nearby.
The dewy, chilly morning went quickly with a view from atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I know I already said that but I wanted to say it again. We started the morning with breakfast burritos and a quick take down of the tent then off we went. We arrived in San Francisco around 2 in the afternoon and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We then found our way to a parking garage with an amazing view of the bridge and Alcatraz, aka THE ROCK for only 2 dollah fo' every 20 minutes! We took some time to enjoy some Ben and Jerry's near Ghirardelli Square and then made a wish in the fountain in the square. Then off we went on an old fashioned cable car and ended up near Chinatown. We had to walk a little bit up hill both ways in the snow (probably) and had some delicious Chinese food for lunch. Then Tumbles and T*Star used their rockin' map skills to lead us to another cable car to get back to our starting point. That alone would be a great end to the afternoon but there's more. We got to dangle out of the cable car, yup, DANGLE! We ran up to the cable car and the driver yelled one person here, here and HERE! So we jumped on and held on tight! It was kind of a big deal. (Think Full House and imagine our butts dangling over cars.)
The afternoon ended with Tumbles and Pants buying San Francisco hoodies and then off we went. It was a little late so we opted for a night in a hotel! Hooray electricity! So here we are in Gilroy, California, the Garlic Capital of the WORLD!
That's all from the Chicas!
See you tomorrow, maybe, we'll see if we have electricity!
Pants (Nancy)
As Tumbles said, we were just waiting to have electricity/internet to post the blog, so we thought we'd follow through on that and write about today and last night separately!
What can be said about last night?
Well, setting up camp was fairly easy and only took 30 minutes! We're getting faster everyday and though that's awesome, that's not the best part about last night. The best part was the view. We set up camp atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and proceeded to watch the sunset. Cue jealousy, go on. The night ended with hotdogs, sangria and roasted marshmallows while listening to the waves crash nearby.
The dewy, chilly morning went quickly with a view from atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I know I already said that but I wanted to say it again. We started the morning with breakfast burritos and a quick take down of the tent then off we went. We arrived in San Francisco around 2 in the afternoon and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We then found our way to a parking garage with an amazing view of the bridge and Alcatraz, aka THE ROCK for only 2 dollah fo' every 20 minutes! We took some time to enjoy some Ben and Jerry's near Ghirardelli Square and then made a wish in the fountain in the square. Then off we went on an old fashioned cable car and ended up near Chinatown. We had to walk a little bit up hill both ways in the snow (probably) and had some delicious Chinese food for lunch. Then Tumbles and T*Star used their rockin' map skills to lead us to another cable car to get back to our starting point. That alone would be a great end to the afternoon but there's more. We got to dangle out of the cable car, yup, DANGLE! We ran up to the cable car and the driver yelled one person here, here and HERE! So we jumped on and held on tight! It was kind of a big deal. (Think Full House and imagine our butts dangling over cars.)
The afternoon ended with Tumbles and Pants buying San Francisco hoodies and then off we went. It was a little late so we opted for a night in a hotel! Hooray electricity! So here we are in Gilroy, California, the Garlic Capital of the WORLD!
That's all from the Chicas!
See you tomorrow, maybe, we'll see if we have electricity!
Pants (Nancy)
Catching Up...
I just want to start this blog with a quick disclaimer that we have had such spotty cell phones and internet connections and battery charge that this little wrap up has been patiently waiting to be posted just for you :) Enjoy as much as you can, pictures will follow soon as will the recap of today...
Tuesday
Our morning in Seattle began with breakfast with Sara and Ark at a cute little organic restaurant. Once our bellies were filled our tour guides kicked it into high gear. We made it to the top of the Space Needle, giggled at the fish throwers in Pike Place Market, sat with the troll under the bridge, meandered through the sculpture park and then bid farewell to our Washington hosts and the wonderful city of Seattle.
Wednesday
We arrived in Portland to the abode of Kurt and Hannah just in time for a late dinner. Kurt slaved over a chicken for hours while we played with Hannah and then we all had the best night ever, just ask Hannah. We busted a few moves in Just Dance II, the highlights including Rasputin of course, and got Nancy caught up on the West Wing, Season 1, episodes 1 through 5 :) We were up bright and early the next day and went to Hannah’s favorite coffee shop, the Funky Monkey, and then VooDoo donuts where we indulged in Portland Cream donuts and Maple Bacon donuts. It was as heavenly as it sounds. We made sure to wander down the aisles of Powells Books before spending some qt with family. At precisely 6:24pm, the amazing T*Star arrived in Portland and we picked her up in style: with a Welcome to the New Hilton, East Coast Road Trip oh-9. Yup, you read that right, we were so excited to be on our second gianormous road trip that we forgot where and when we were :) The sign rocked T*Star’s world as Pants artisted it up with a beautiful tent and a half cooked pink marshmallow. It was epic, though I do have to say, the back of her sign is going to be ridiculous. We brought the starved and sleepless T*Star home immediately and ate another fabulous Kurt concoction: homemade pizza with white sauce. Within an hour T*Star was up to speed on how to communicate non-verbally, it was as though not a day had gone by since East Coast Road Trip oh-9, again, you can see how easy it was to forget where and when we were. It was a super fun trip to P-town and we’re thankful to our Portland hosts, Kurt and Hannah, for showing us how to have a good time :)
Thursday
Before departing Portland, we couldn’t resist revisiting the breakfast of the day before and so we hit up the Funky Monkey and VooDoo donuts before blowing Oregon a kiss goodbye. On the road to the Redwoods we made several new friends, some creepier than others, and our favorite by far was a woman we now refer to as our Aunt Girlfriend. We met her while gawking at a giant Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox (of which there are approximately 7 million of in the US, you can google that). She was in the redwoods with her niece and made sure to give us a heads up on Bacteria Bear, the gray whale in the river, how not to be a lemming, and which way to look for campsites. We then initiated T*Star into the certified campers club, setting up the tent and getting dinner on the table in under an hour. Our poor cooler was a bit overloaded and so we did our best to empty it of beverages before hitting the hay… theoretically. Some classic moments of the evening include “Tumbles, NOOOOO!”, a lesson on how to pee in the woods, “this baseball bat suddenly feels ridiculous”, and a campfire that T*Star built the crap out of.
Friday
We awoke in the tent to the realization that we had set up camp on an incline. T*Stars feet were above her head and Tumbles spent half the night pulling herself and her sleeping bag out of a hole and onto the sleeping mat. The redwoods perked us right up, and our campsite girlfriend Carolyn (who btw was not to be messed with) gave us explicit instructions on where to go to see the corkscrew tree and the biggest tree in the world which was something like 22,000 miles in diameter. Before we could get that far, though, we took a quick detour THROUGH A TREE. It’s called “Tour Through Tree”, and we’ve got a fabulous video on it… though I have to admit, recording life in 3D is hard… Since I’m not that tech savy, you only get to see pictures, but be really nice and buy me chocolate and I will share the video with you.
We then drove about a mile away to a bridge over the Klamath River where a sad mama gray whale was hanging out. The area has seen several gray whales en route to Alaska, but this is the first time a mama and a baby had been spotted this far up the river. The baby whale had found her way out to the mouth of the river, but somehow the mama hadn’t gotten the memo and was very anxiously circling for weeks in the river, waiting for her baby to return. We learned much more about it from our Tour Through a Tree gatekeeper, but we’ll spare you the details. We did get some amazing pictures of the mama whale as she was directly under the bridge and would come out and blow some water in the air for her adoring fans (also known as lemmings as they would run across the highway if they thought she was going to cross under the bridge). We made sure to stand close to but not touching the bacteria bears on the bridge before heading towards the recommended trees. We marveled at the corkscrew tree, which you could incidentally climb inside of, and the amazingly large 22 feet across tree. I lost count of how many times one of us would sigh and say I love trees. We aren’t even serious nature fans and the trees wowed us to no end. As we type, we are en route to our next campground somewhere nearish to San Francisco. We hope to report back soon on how amazingly quick we were able to set up the tent and roast hot dogs. Go ahead, be jealous ;)
We hope you now understand why the blog is behind, and now that we’re all certified, our efficiency can only increase. Happy Trails with love from the New Hilton.
-Tumbles (Colleen)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A Wee Bit Tardy...
We’d like to issue a quick apology to all you faithful fans, we were so excited to see our wonderful Seattl
e hosts, Sara and Shoham, that we didn’t remember to blog last night. In order to make it up to you, we’ve also decided to add pictures to the past posts. It’s a win win scenario!
e hosts, Sara and Shoham, that we didn’t remember to blog last night. In order to make it up to you, we’ve also decided to add pictures to the past posts. It’s a win win scenario!We started the day Monday by collecting a biker boyfriend who had stayed in the hotel room next to us the night before. He must have really liked our smiles or he thought we
were drunks because as we were loading the car he called out to us “Hey… do you ladies like beer?” It turns out he didn’t have enough space in his cooler for his 5 extra Coors, so he gifted them to us. How sweet J That motel really was a friendly place from our Glacier Motel girlfriend, Florence, who greeted us and showed us to our room to our biker boyfriend making our departure so happy.
We then took Kirby to the car doctor for an oil change, hit the road and said goodbye to Montana and hello to Idaho! Idaho was quite exciting, we had a moment in the sun on a boat… ok it was a barber shop in the 
shape of a boat, but still, it rocked. Pants then represented all Hispanics in Idaho… For real. She walked into McDonalds and thought to herself: “am I paranoid or are these people all looking at me?” She wasn’t paranoid, they were looking at her. There were no non-white people to be seen. Seriously, even the workers at McDonalds were white… it was surreal. She represented Hispanics well. I was a little jealous, but she told me not to worry because my shoulders are totally brown. See, I’m part Hispanic now too! The shoulders part… Pants’ cousin told her not to worry because some gringos like the tan look :D That really had us cracking up!
Then we kissed Idaho goodbye (figuratively of course) and moved onto Washington!! Our first stop was a giant radio flyer in Spokane. It was so cool, you could slide down the handle!! (You can see it in the picture, right?) Then we walked around the cute little carousel and park where Pants picked up a sno-cone girlfriend. This chick seriously rocked, not only did she give great sno-cone flavor advice, but she promised to replace the one Pants tentatively chose if she hated the flavor. What a rockstar girlfriend! We scooted around town to get another photo-op, this time in front of a fabulous giant milk bottle/hamburger joint. Giant bot
tles totally me smile, so I happily posed for the pic. Enjoy.
Our next pit stop just so happened to be in George, … Washington. Seriously, that’s the name of the town. We loved it. In front of the gas station, they have a gianormous bust of George for camera toting tourists such as ourselves. It was a great day on the road!
We rolled into Seattle j
ust in time for a late dinner with our fabulous Seattle friends, Sara, Shoham and Ark and laughed the night away. It was a great change of pace from camping and motels, and our hosts even upped the ante and volunteered to be our tour guides the next day in Seattle! Stay tuned for our amazing Seattle tour…
Over and out,
Tumbles (Colleen)
Monday, August 8, 2011
There must be nature here!
The morning began with Pants proclaiming... 
*achu* It's as if my nose just thought to itself, wait a minute, there must be nature here! *achu*! *achu*!
Followed later by the first of many witty conversations:
Tumbles: I wish I would have found my nail clippers sooner.
Pants: Why didn't you ask me? I have some.
Tumbles: Of course you do, you have everything! Do you have a midget too?!?!
Pants: I AM a midget!
Good morning Montana!
Would you like some breakfast? Mmmm... breakfast was again some awesome egg burritos cooked on the best stove ever. Followed quickly by the tent take down which was extra easy, we worked quickly and efficiently to cut the time in half. Then off we went!
Today consisted mostly of driving across Montana, which is a huge state with not a lot to see in terms of attractions. Who knew? Okay, lets not kid ourselves, we all knew. But talk about GORGEOUS nature! ...and lots of "NO METH" signs. Yup, drugs are BAD! But Glacier National Park is GOOD.
There aren't too many adventures to write about today but lots of interesting moments, no doubt!
Where oh where to begin?
Well...
1) "Buffalo, it's like a less exciting moose." This one might need a little explaining. On East Coast Summer Road Trip Oh-9, moose were a
huge highlight of trip. We spent all of the northern part of the east coast waiting to see moose and THEN we finally saw one! Well, we haven't been looking for moose on this trip but we did see a buffalo!!!
B) Do you love hay?!?! Our road trip is for you! Just follow our tracks! There is hay as far as the eye can see! True story. Want to know more? Dial 1-800-Twins-Hayyyy (T*Star gets it. Did I say reindeer?)
iii) How does a rest area keep its grass so green? With a sign that reads "Rattlesnakes have been observed. Please stay on sidewalks." ...Really?!?! Seriously?!?! For those of you who don't know, Pants is afraid of snakes, like even thinking about them scares her half to death. Going potty was never so scary.
IV) Lets talk about bears! Tumbles is afraid of bears! Thinking about them scares her half to death. No lie. So as we were driving around Glacier National Park we spotted a bear in the first two minutes! Lets just say Tumbles metaphorically/metaphysically/figuratively crapped her pants. But we're strong and we kept on driving! UNTIL Tumbles spot
ted something large and black in the distance, imagine the SHRIEK she let out. She had crapped her pants again, only this time it was because of a cowbear. Yup, a cowbear. What is a cowbear you might ask? It's a cow in Glacier National Park posing as a bear. It's a real thing, look it up. For migration patterns, call 1-800-Twins-Spotcowsinthedistanceandbegingreferringtothemascowbea
rs.
Cinco) That's five in Spanish.
:::) Pants: Look at that cross made of rocks. That was random. (Say it out loud.)
Tumbles: Baby rocks?!?!?! That WAS random.
Pants: What?!?!?!
Sometimes out twinship involves being a 95 year old couple who can't hear each other in the car.
Sept) Listening to "Fire Burnin" and singing along at the top of our longs to forget about cowbears while sadly gazing upon burnt trees.
Lastly) Seeing as we got out of Glacier National Park a little late, we opted to find a hotel or cabin or something of sorts. After several no vacancies, we collected our new
est girlfriend at Middlefork Motel. Though we definitely overpaid, our tiredness and her niceness made spending the money worthwhile! Thanks Florence!
Well, that's all for tonight! It's time for bed!
Thanks for reading!
- Tumbles AND Pants
*achu* It's as if my nose just thought to itself, wait a minute, there must be nature here! *achu*! *achu*!
Followed later by the first of many witty conversations:
Tumbles: I wish I would have found my nail clippers sooner.
Pants: Why didn't you ask me? I have some.
Tumbles: Of course you do, you have everything! Do you have a midget too?!?!
Pants: I AM a midget!
Good morning Montana!
Would you like some breakfast? Mmmm... breakfast was again some awesome egg burritos cooked on the best stove ever. Followed quickly by the tent take down which was extra easy, we worked quickly and efficiently to cut the time in half. Then off we went!
Today consisted mostly of driving across Montana, which is a huge state with not a lot to see in terms of attractions. Who knew? Okay, lets not kid ourselves, we all knew. But talk about GORGEOUS nature! ...and lots of "NO METH" signs. Yup, drugs are BAD! But Glacier National Park is GOOD.
There aren't too many adventures to write about today but lots of interesting moments, no doubt!
Where oh where to begin?
Well...
1) "Buffalo, it's like a less exciting moose." This one might need a little explaining. On East Coast Summer Road Trip Oh-9, moose were a
huge highlight of trip. We spent all of the northern part of the east coast waiting to see moose and THEN we finally saw one! Well, we haven't been looking for moose on this trip but we did see a buffalo!!!
B) Do you love hay?!?! Our road trip is for you! Just follow our tracks! There is hay as far as the eye can see! True story. Want to know more? Dial 1-800-Twins-Hayyyy (T*Star gets it. Did I say reindeer?)
iii) How does a rest area keep its grass so green? With a sign that reads "Rattlesnakes have been observed. Please stay on sidewalks." ...Really?!?! Seriously?!?! For those of you who don't know, Pants is afraid of snakes, like even thinking about them scares her half to death. Going potty was never so scary.
IV) Lets talk about bears! Tumbles is afraid of bears! Thinking about them scares her half to death. No lie. So as we were driving around Glacier National Park we spotted a bear in the first two minutes! Lets just say Tumbles metaphorically/metaphysically/figuratively crapped her pants. But we're strong and we kept on driving! UNTIL Tumbles spot
ted something large and black in the distance, imagine the SHRIEK she let out. She had crapped her pants again, only this time it was because of a cowbear. Yup, a cowbear. What is a cowbear you might ask? It's a cow in Glacier National Park posing as a bear. It's a real thing, look it up. For migration patterns, call 1-800-Twins-Spotcowsinthedistanceandbegingreferringtothemascowbea
rs.
Cinco) That's five in Spanish.
:::) Pants: Look at that cross made of rocks. That was random. (Say it out loud.)
Tumbles: Baby rocks?!?!?! That WAS random.
Pants: What?!?!?!
Sometimes out twinship involves being a 95 year old couple who can't hear each other in the car.
Sept) Listening to "Fire Burnin" and singing along at the top of our longs to forget about cowbears while sadly gazing upon burnt trees.
Lastly) Seeing as we got out of Glacier National Park a little late, we opted to find a hotel or cabin or something of sorts. After several no vacancies, we collected our new
est girlfriend at Middlefork Motel. Though we definitely overpaid, our tiredness and her niceness made spending the money worthwhile! Thanks Florence!
Well, that's all for tonight! It's time for bed!
Thanks for reading!
- Tumbles AND Pants
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Twinlicious = Sharing and Caring Plus Teamwork
Day three started off with the best egg and cheese burritos, also known as baleadas (according to a certain Honduran twin *cough*Tumbles*cough*) cooked on the best camping stove EVER! Then it was a slightly clumsy, yet somehow efficient tent break down.
A quick shower and a quarter mile drive later, we were at Wall Drug! What's Wall Drug you might ask?? Well, it's South Dakota's version of Wal-Greens on crack. No fo'realz, Google it! There were shops and side shows: we got to ride a jackalope, listen to a gorilla play the piano and sing, and ride off the side of a non-moving horseless drawn carriage. It was, in a word, fabulous, and you really should google it at the very least. Just before noon we headed to the car but not before taking a quick pic of the outside of Wall Drug where Tumble posed with the official sign. Mid-pose we collected our latest human suveneir: a Wall Drug boyfriend, before dashing off towards the Enchanted Highway.
Not to give you too much homework, but the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota is a lovely stretch of highway that a local turned artist was inspired to create in order to keep his beloved town of Regent thriving. It was indeed enchanting as Pants was allowed (and in fact encouraged) to climb aboard a ship in one piece entitled Fishermans Dream, and Tumble boarded a wooden horse drawn carriage. It was by far the highlight of the western edge of North Dakota for these two Travel Bugs. We then charged into Montanta where we marveled at the big sky and found a lovely camp ground before dark. Pants made sure our tent building was improving as she set her timer and in 40 minutes flat we had the tent set up, filled with our stuff and water boiling for fettuccini alfredo. We are quite satisfied now as we climb into bed. I’m sure we’ll get the set up time down to 10 minutes by the time T*Star joins us!
Lots of love from Montana, Tumble (Colleen)
"Ummm if God had intended us to camp he wouldn't have invented Hiltons." -T*Star (2009)
The title of our blog today comes from East Coast Summer Road Trip 2009 and was uttered by the 
very awesome T*Star while roasting marshmallows at a CABIN in New Hampshire. Coincidentally, T*Star will join our travels next week in Portland, so stay tuned from more!
But tonight, it's the real deal. Hello from an amazing tent/house in Wall, South Dakota! (HUGE shout out and big thanks to Rob and Jessica Heap for providing the tent and literally everything else.) It was a rough evening at first because we didn't roll into town until around 9pm and it was obviously dark and unfortunately windy. Whi
le Tumbles (Colleen) has camped before, I have to say this is my first time ever in my entire life of being on this earth that I have EVER been camping or used my sleeping bag for it's intended purpose. Having been taught to set up the tent on Tuesday and hoteling-it yesterday, today was the first day we set it up. Needless to say it was a struggle and may have taken us the better part of an hour. haha! Give us a break, it's a big tent! But we did it and we're sure we're pretty much certified campers now, got any questions? Call us at 1-800-Twins-Camp. We wrapped up the night by grilling up some hotdogs, throwing back a beer/wine and roasting some smores. It was great! But lets rewind a little, why did we get here so late? Well... how many ways can one say AWESOME?
Lets begin:
The day started off in Cozak, Nebraska! We headed east towards North Platte, where we stopped at Buffalo Bill's Trading Post and Museum. It wasn't on our original plan but how could we pass it up? We've now seen a stuffed two headed cow and squirrel tighty whities, have you? After that adventure, Tumbles earned the right to wear the Tiara of Awesomeness for phone Googleing to find us a pretty great deal on glass repair for our CRV a.k.a. Kirby. Huge props to the receptionist and technician at Front Street Auto Glass. They were nice, friendly, helpful and quick. We were in and out in less than half an hour and on the road again!
Our next stop was Car Henge in Alliance, Nebraska, which is exactly what it so
unds like. It's Stone Henge but with cars. We know you're jealous! Onward! Next we headed towards South Dakota and into the Black Hills. Talk about narrow roads but beautiful scenery! Gorgeous to say the least! We had a little run of bad weather but it was brief and we made to Mount Rushmore in no time at all! Well, you may know it as Mount Rushmore, we kept forgetting though, so should we refer to it as "the faces," "stone henge?" or "you know, that one place we're going," it's probably Mount Rushmore. I have to say, it was pretty grand and I'm very glad I got to see it!
What would 2 travel bugs do next? How about a Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota? Yup. Lets just say that with the
10,000 stairs to climb up, you had to really want it. Us girls really wanted it. That's just how we roll!
Bur really, what South Dakota adventure would be complete without a visit to Sturgis??? So on we went! This is the weekend before the Sturgis biker rally starts. There were bikes as far as the eyes could see! Tumbles wouldn't let me get out of the car to ask: "Pardon me sir, are you a biker doctor? Yes? Can I get yo' numbah??" But whatever Tumbles, whatever! She also didn't let me kick it at Full Throttle either, TruTv?? Anybody?? Anybody?? Fo'realz. So who's coming back with me next year? :)
In order to avoid too many crowed, we opted to find camping a little further way from Sturgis which turns out was all the way in Wall, SD. Fast forward to 9pm and setting up camp in the dark. It's okay though, Wall was our next destination! Tomorrow we'll explore Wall Drug and head up the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota. Intrigued?? Want to know more?? Well, you'll have to wail un
til tomorrow!
It's time for bed.. I mean sleeping bag! Good night from our awesome tent!
-Pants (Nancy)
very awesome T*Star while roasting marshmallows at a CABIN in New Hampshire. Coincidentally, T*Star will join our travels next week in Portland, so stay tuned from more!
But tonight, it's the real deal. Hello from an amazing tent/house in Wall, South Dakota! (HUGE shout out and big thanks to Rob and Jessica Heap for providing the tent and literally everything else.) It was a rough evening at first because we didn't roll into town until around 9pm and it was obviously dark and unfortunately windy. Whi
le Tumbles (Colleen) has camped before, I have to say this is my first time ever in my entire life of being on this earth that I have EVER been camping or used my sleeping bag for it's intended purpose. Having been taught to set up the tent on Tuesday and hoteling-it yesterday, today was the first day we set it up. Needless to say it was a struggle and may have taken us the better part of an hour. haha! Give us a break, it's a big tent! But we did it and we're sure we're pretty much certified campers now, got any questions? Call us at 1-800-Twins-Camp. We wrapped up the night by grilling up some hotdogs, throwing back a beer/wine and roasting some smores. It was great! But lets rewind a little, why did we get here so late? Well... how many ways can one say AWESOME?
Lets begin:
The day started off in Cozak, Nebraska! We headed east towards North Platte, where we stopped at Buffalo Bill's Trading Post and Museum. It wasn't on our original plan but how could we pass it up? We've now seen a stuffed two headed cow and squirrel tighty whities, have you? After that adventure, Tumbles earned the right to wear the Tiara of Awesomeness for phone Googleing to find us a pretty great deal on glass repair for our CRV a.k.a. Kirby. Huge props to the receptionist and technician at Front Street Auto Glass. They were nice, friendly, helpful and quick. We were in and out in less than half an hour and on the road again!
Our next stop was Car Henge in Alliance, Nebraska, which is exactly what it so
unds like. It's Stone Henge but with cars. We know you're jealous! Onward! Next we headed towards South Dakota and into the Black Hills. Talk about narrow roads but beautiful scenery! Gorgeous to say the least! We had a little run of bad weather but it was brief and we made to Mount Rushmore in no time at all! Well, you may know it as Mount Rushmore, we kept forgetting though, so should we refer to it as "the faces," "stone henge?" or "you know, that one place we're going," it's probably Mount Rushmore. I have to say, it was pretty grand and I'm very glad I got to see it!
What would 2 travel bugs do next? How about a Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota? Yup. Lets just say that with the
10,000 stairs to climb up, you had to really want it. Us girls really wanted it. That's just how we roll!
Bur really, what South Dakota adventure would be complete without a visit to Sturgis??? So on we went! This is the weekend before the Sturgis biker rally starts. There were bikes as far as the eyes could see! Tumbles wouldn't let me get out of the car to ask: "Pardon me sir, are you a biker doctor? Yes? Can I get yo' numbah??" But whatever Tumbles, whatever! She also didn't let me kick it at Full Throttle either, TruTv?? Anybody?? Anybody?? Fo'realz. So who's coming back with me next year? :)
In order to avoid too many crowed, we opted to find camping a little further way from Sturgis which turns out was all the way in Wall, SD. Fast forward to 9pm and setting up camp in the dark. It's okay though, Wall was our next destination! Tomorrow we'll explore Wall Drug and head up the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota. Intrigued?? Want to know more?? Well, you'll have to wail un
til tomorrow!
It's time for bed.. I mean sleeping bag! Good night from our awesome tent!
-Pants (Nancy)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
West Coast Road Trip 20-oh-11 has officially begun!!
Pants got off to a rocky start this morning after a sleepless night and packed the car in the rain. I
t wasn’t too annoying until the power went out and she was forced to use her head flashlight L Then she did a quick test of her new car power converter… which promptly blew the fuse for the cigarette lighter. It was a painful morning for pobrecita Pants L She made it in time to pick me up from my overnight bus and together we followed Jill’s horrible directions which lead us into not one but two train parking lots. Needless to say, we weren’t too upset when Jill died and so we took the old fashioned route and asked at a gas station for a mechanic. Wally World was option number one and the cute lil old door greeter, Robert, was a great help. He listened patiently to our p
roblem and told us to look it up in the car’s manual… We were a bit hesitant at first, but within a good half hour Pants had found both fuse switchboards and replaced the blown fuse. We are now both officially certified mechanic twins, so if you need any help, feel free to call anytime 1-800-TWIN-MECHANICS. The other bonus of Wally World was that we collected our first boyfriend of the trip J He told us that he saved one fan for the prettiest girls in the world J Yeah Wally World Boyfriend!!
t wasn’t too annoying until the power went out and she was forced to use her head flashlight L Then she did a quick test of her new car power converter… which promptly blew the fuse for the cigarette lighter. It was a painful morning for pobrecita Pants L She made it in time to pick me up from my overnight bus and together we followed Jill’s horrible directions which lead us into not one but two train parking lots. Needless to say, we weren’t too upset when Jill died and so we took the old fashioned route and asked at a gas station for a mechanic. Wally World was option number one and the cute lil old door greeter, Robert, was a great help. He listened patiently to our p
roblem and told us to look it up in the car’s manual… We were a bit hesitant at first, but within a good half hour Pants had found both fuse switchboards and replaced the blown fuse. We are now both officially certified mechanic twins, so if you need any help, feel free to call anytime 1-800-TWIN-MECHANICS. The other bonus of Wally World was that we collected our first boyfriend of the trip J He told us that he saved one fan for the prettiest girls in the world J Yeah Wally World Boyfriend!!
We then went on to conquer all of Kansas (it took a long time, let me tell you!) and part of Nebra
ska!! The car wanted to get all of its bad luck out in one day, and it took a stone to the windshield for us. The chip almost looks like a rainbow, or a frown depending on your outlook on life ;) Keep your fingers crossed that we can find some help fixing the chip before it spreads! It'll be a fun way to start day #2... Or just a way to start the day.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's excitement: Carhenge. If you’re picturing Stonehenge done with cars, you’re our kinda gal :)
- Tumbles (Colleen)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.
That’s what my mom used to say to us when we got home from a long trip and now any time we travel we send each other an email with the subject line “Jiggety-Jig” to let each other know we’ve arrived home safely. In this particular case, the email Mom*Star received said simply, “Jig….zzzzzz…..XO,” as that was all I could muster Sunday night. Nancy Pants and I had a long last two days on the road and there have been some requests for updates on the big road trip finale, so I’ll do my best to recall as much as possible despite the fact that my brain is still trying to recover from the trip!
Saturday, July 11th: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.*
It’s hard to believe that just four days ago Pants and I woke up in Crackleen’s and Megan’s DC apartment. We had a late night of packing and battling technology in a fierce attempt at getting all of our photos onto a couple of flash drives (or flask drive, in Crack’s case). We lost the technology battle, but got all packed up and got about three hours of sleep before it was time to get up and prepare for a loooong day on the road. Pants and I were up at 5 so we could be on the road about 6. We were parked in Colleen’s building’s garage and needed the garage door opener to get out, so Col got up, went downstairs with us, and helped us load the Batmobile before we pulled out of the garage, gave her the door opener, and dropped her off in front of the building. It was really hard to say goodbye after 13 awesome days with her, but at least there was a silver lining for her—she got to go back to bed!
Jill successfully navigated us out of the city and through Maryland, where we stopped to get ice for Big Blue and coffee + breakfast for ourselves around 8:30. We decided it was a good day for Dunkin’ Donuts (especially since we’d heard they had great coffee), so that’s where we stopped. Pants ordered and was served quickly while I stood waiting patiently in the ever-growing line. There were two registers in use and when the guy in front of me finished paying the man helping him went to get his coffee, then started yelling at me about my coffee across the restaurant. “COFFEE??” Me: “Um…yes, please. Uh….regular? Medium?” Him: “WHAT KIND???” Me: “Uh….regular?” *insert nasty glare from man behind the counter* “Drip?” (Eventually I’m going to get the right answer. I’m just sure of it.) Him: “SIZE????” Me: “Medium?” (Didn’t I say that already?) Him: “CREAM???? SUGAR????” (What the heck?? They’re going to doctor it FOR me??? I’ve never had this happen before and have no idea what to tell him to do to it. I usually take a little bit of skim milk and half a packet of Sweet & Low but I get the feeling this guy isn’t exactly anxious to cater to my every preference.) Me: “Yes please?” *insert another nasty glare and a big sigh here, along with stares from several people behind me.* Apparently I am the only person in this place that has never been here before and doesn’t know the proper way to order coffee here and I feel badly that I don’t know the routine, but I just don’t think it’s nice to yell at people before they’ve had their coffee. Ya know what I mean? So when the other girl behind the register asked for my order and asked if I wanted coffee I cringed, wondering if I had to go through all this again. “Um…that gentleman already asked me. I think he already got it?” Fortunately that was all I had to say and she magically produced a cup of coffee already lidded and ready to go. Who knows if it was mine? At that point I was pretty much going to drink whatever they gave me. Anyways, I was relieved to get out of there, and I have to say it—the coffee really WAS pretty great! Unfortunately when I decided to eat my Boston Crème donut a couple of hours later I opened the bag to find that the girl had plopped it in the bag upside-down with the wax paper sitting on top of it, so I held firmly to the donut while Pants pulled on the bag and naturally, all of the chocolate icing stuck to the bottom of the bag. I think the coffee guy told her to do it.
We motored on through Pennsylvania, which was beautiful, and then into Ohio, where we encountered an absolute monsoon. I drove the first bit of it and then Pants took over for awhile, getting us through the monsoon and through Ohio, into Indiana. At some point we switched drivers again, but not before I had made salami sandwiches for lunch and gotten hers all wrong. (It was my first salami sandwich since I was very, very young. I think it will be my last for several more years.) I was promptly fired from sandwich-making and sent back to the driver’s seat. Indiana and Illinois were pretty uneventful, though we did start to get a little delirious the last couple of hours. 13 hours of driving is a lot for one day, and especially if you only slept three hours the night before!
You can imagine our excitement when we finally rolled into Mom*Star’s driveway around 7:30 p.m.! We spent the evening catching up with Mom and Ron (who made us a phenomenal dinner of stuffed mushroom caps, cashew salad, grilled steaks, corn on the cob, and freshly homemade strawberry pie) and Tyler and Debbie (Ron’s son and his girlfriend) and finally hit the sack around midnight, I think. We slept REALLY well that night! Oh, but how could I forget to tell you about Pants’ question on our way to Mom*Star’s? “T*Star? Do we have to sleep apart tonight?” Me (laughing): “Don’t worry. We can sleep in twin beds in the same room. Then tomorrow night at my condo we’ll have separate rooms but we’ll still be in the same condo. We’ll ease out of our togetherness slowly.”
* Disclaimer: Don’t worry, we’re not smokers. Hopefully you recognized that quote from The Blues Brothers!
Sunday, July 12th: All Aboard the Jelly Belly Express!!
I was up a little after 8 on Sunday, feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for a couple of cups of coffee! I got myself through the shower, then headed downstairs to try to help out with breakfast, only to find that nearly everything was done already! Mom and Ron made us a delicious breakfast—hash brown casserole, scrambled eggs, fresh melon, and homemade sticky buns. Yum! We all drug our feet eating breakfast and chatting before Nancy and I finally decided that we really did need to get on the road. We had one last stop to make on our journey back to Minneapolis—the Jelly Belly Factory in Pleasant Prairie, WI! After lots of hugs, thank-you’s, and a bag of sticky buns for the road (for Nancy—I wasn’t allowed to have any), we loaded the Batmobile one last time and headed north. (Thanks for everything, Mom and Ron!!!)
Just over an hour later (after a minor freak-out on Jill’s part) we arrived at the Jelly Belly Factory. We were told that the next free factory tour was in just 8 minutes, so we waited patiently in line, the only party without children under the age of ten. A few minutes later the line started moving and our tour guide handed us paper Jelly Belly hats as they welcomed us aboard the Jelly Belly express. This has to be the lamest
“factory tour” of all time, but, well, maybe you don’t know this about us yet, but we’re pretty easy to entertain, so we had a great time! The tour basically involved a ride around a warehouse on a bunch of glorified golf carts chained together and driven by a college student wearing pinstripe denim overalls and a “conductor’s” hat. As they drive you in one big circle around the warehouse full of Jelly Belly’s they stop to let you watch videos about Jelly Belly art (Yes, that’s art made from Jelly Belly’s.) and the history of Jelly Belly’s. We were lucky enough to have a conductor who was just trying to get through his first day on the job, so there was probably more reading directly from the script than normal. At one point he talked about their “art gallery…thingy” and at another point he forgot his mic was on and hummed along with the music on the video, to the amusement of everyone on the 
train. Despite the fact that the tour was less than stellar, we did enjoy the jelly bean artwork and the Jelly Belly kick-line near the end. Oh, and the free bag of Jelly Belly’s at the end of the tour wasn’t bad either. After a trip through the gift shop and stopping to take a few photos with giant Jelly Belly’s and a Jelly Belly car it was time to hit the road and head for Minneapolis.
We didn’t dawdle much on our way back to Minnesota, but we couldn’t drive six hours through Wisconsin without stopping to buy some cheese! We ended up with cheese, cheese curds (of course), and some soft cheese that you dip crackers into, so once we got back on the road Nancy set up a little cheese smorgasbord for us. Yum.
Much of the rest of the drive was spent hoping to hear Fire Burnin’ on our favorite radio station, and when we’d spent 7+ hours in the car and hadn’t heard it we started to get frustrated. How are two girls supposed to finish a 17-day road trip without Fire Burnin’?!? When we heard Nickelback for the 100th time Nancy called the radio station and left a message requesting “Fire Burnin’ by Sean Kingston…and NO MORE NICKELBACK!!” I was so thrilled with her for that last part that I laughed til I couldn’t breathe, but when we got off the highway to turn down my street we still hadn’t heard it. I decided to see what was on our second favorite station (the 90’s station) and we heard Just A Friend (“Oh baby yoooouuu….you got what I neeeeeeed! But you say he’s just a friend! But you say he’s just a friend!”), which was another of our favorites from the trip so we were pretty excited to end on that note. As we pulled into my parking lot I suggested we park outside and empty Big Blue before pulling into the garage so we wouldn’t have to carry him back outside to dump all of the ice and water out. I put the car in park, then said, “One more time. Fire burnin’!!” and hit the button to change the radio station. I’m surprised we didn’t wake the neighbors with our screaming when it really WAS Fire Burnin’!! We couldn’t believe it!! So, naturally, we had one last road trip dance break in my parking lot before emptying Big Blue and unloading the Batmobile one last time.
It’s hard to believe that 17 days on the road could go so fast, but yet here I am sitting at my dining room table blogging about the last two days of the trip. Nancy is back home in Kansas, Colleen has just returned to DC after a business trip to Atlanta earlier this week, and Eva is in the middle of moving to a new home in Phoenix. I think we’re all a little shocked that this trip came together the way it did. No one can pinpoint exactly where the idea came from, but I’m so glad that we did it. This is surely a trip that we’ll remember and talk about for the rest of our lives. We’re hoping to take a trip that requires passports in 2010 (And no, I don’t mean a return trip to Canada!), but I’ve already heard Pants say, “So…WEST Coast Road Trip 2011???”
XOXO from my home in Minnesota y un abrazo muy fuerte a las chicas in travelbug pants,
T*Star/Estrella/Trish
Saturday, July 11th: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.*
It’s hard to believe that just four days ago Pants and I woke up in Crackleen’s and Megan’s DC apartment. We had a late night of packing and battling technology in a fierce attempt at getting all of our photos onto a couple of flash drives (or flask drive, in Crack’s case). We lost the technology battle, but got all packed up and got about three hours of sleep before it was time to get up and prepare for a loooong day on the road. Pants and I were up at 5 so we could be on the road about 6. We were parked in Colleen’s building’s garage and needed the garage door opener to get out, so Col got up, went downstairs with us, and helped us load the Batmobile before we pulled out of the garage, gave her the door opener, and dropped her off in front of the building. It was really hard to say goodbye after 13 awesome days with her, but at least there was a silver lining for her—she got to go back to bed!
Jill successfully navigated us out of the city and through Maryland, where we stopped to get ice for Big Blue and coffee + breakfast for ourselves around 8:30. We decided it was a good day for Dunkin’ Donuts (especially since we’d heard they had great coffee), so that’s where we stopped. Pants ordered and was served quickly while I stood waiting patiently in the ever-growing line. There were two registers in use and when the guy in front of me finished paying the man helping him went to get his coffee, then started yelling at me about my coffee across the restaurant. “COFFEE??” Me: “Um…yes, please. Uh….regular? Medium?” Him: “WHAT KIND???” Me: “Uh….regular?” *insert nasty glare from man behind the counter* “Drip?” (Eventually I’m going to get the right answer. I’m just sure of it.) Him: “SIZE????” Me: “Medium?” (Didn’t I say that already?) Him: “CREAM???? SUGAR????” (What the heck?? They’re going to doctor it FOR me??? I’ve never had this happen before and have no idea what to tell him to do to it. I usually take a little bit of skim milk and half a packet of Sweet & Low but I get the feeling this guy isn’t exactly anxious to cater to my every preference.) Me: “Yes please?” *insert another nasty glare and a big sigh here, along with stares from several people behind me.* Apparently I am the only person in this place that has never been here before and doesn’t know the proper way to order coffee here and I feel badly that I don’t know the routine, but I just don’t think it’s nice to yell at people before they’ve had their coffee. Ya know what I mean? So when the other girl behind the register asked for my order and asked if I wanted coffee I cringed, wondering if I had to go through all this again. “Um…that gentleman already asked me. I think he already got it?” Fortunately that was all I had to say and she magically produced a cup of coffee already lidded and ready to go. Who knows if it was mine? At that point I was pretty much going to drink whatever they gave me. Anyways, I was relieved to get out of there, and I have to say it—the coffee really WAS pretty great! Unfortunately when I decided to eat my Boston Crème donut a couple of hours later I opened the bag to find that the girl had plopped it in the bag upside-down with the wax paper sitting on top of it, so I held firmly to the donut while Pants pulled on the bag and naturally, all of the chocolate icing stuck to the bottom of the bag. I think the coffee guy told her to do it.
We motored on through Pennsylvania, which was beautiful, and then into Ohio, where we encountered an absolute monsoon. I drove the first bit of it and then Pants took over for awhile, getting us through the monsoon and through Ohio, into Indiana. At some point we switched drivers again, but not before I had made salami sandwiches for lunch and gotten hers all wrong. (It was my first salami sandwich since I was very, very young. I think it will be my last for several more years.) I was promptly fired from sandwich-making and sent back to the driver’s seat. Indiana and Illinois were pretty uneventful, though we did start to get a little delirious the last couple of hours. 13 hours of driving is a lot for one day, and especially if you only slept three hours the night before!
You can imagine our excitement when we finally rolled into Mom*Star’s driveway around 7:30 p.m.! We spent the evening catching up with Mom and Ron (who made us a phenomenal dinner of stuffed mushroom caps, cashew salad, grilled steaks, corn on the cob, and freshly homemade strawberry pie) and Tyler and Debbie (Ron’s son and his girlfriend) and finally hit the sack around midnight, I think. We slept REALLY well that night! Oh, but how could I forget to tell you about Pants’ question on our way to Mom*Star’s? “T*Star? Do we have to sleep apart tonight?” Me (laughing): “Don’t worry. We can sleep in twin beds in the same room. Then tomorrow night at my condo we’ll have separate rooms but we’ll still be in the same condo. We’ll ease out of our togetherness slowly.”
* Disclaimer: Don’t worry, we’re not smokers. Hopefully you recognized that quote from The Blues Brothers!
Sunday, July 12th: All Aboard the Jelly Belly Express!!
I was up a little after 8 on Sunday, feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for a couple of cups of coffee! I got myself through the shower, then headed downstairs to try to help out with breakfast, only to find that nearly everything was done already! Mom and Ron made us a delicious breakfast—hash brown casserole, scrambled eggs, fresh melon, and homemade sticky buns. Yum! We all drug our feet eating breakfast and chatting before Nancy and I finally decided that we really did need to get on the road. We had one last stop to make on our journey back to Minneapolis—the Jelly Belly Factory in Pleasant Prairie, WI! After lots of hugs, thank-you’s, and a bag of sticky buns for the road (for Nancy—I wasn’t allowed to have any), we loaded the Batmobile one last time and headed north. (Thanks for everything, Mom and Ron!!!)
Just over an hour later (after a minor freak-out on Jill’s part) we arrived at the Jelly Belly Factory. We were told that the next free factory tour was in just 8 minutes, so we waited patiently in line, the only party without children under the age of ten. A few minutes later the line started moving and our tour guide handed us paper Jelly Belly hats as they welcomed us aboard the Jelly Belly express. This has to be the lamest
“factory tour” of all time, but, well, maybe you don’t know this about us yet, but we’re pretty easy to entertain, so we had a great time! The tour basically involved a ride around a warehouse on a bunch of glorified golf carts chained together and driven by a college student wearing pinstripe denim overalls and a “conductor’s” hat. As they drive you in one big circle around the warehouse full of Jelly Belly’s they stop to let you watch videos about Jelly Belly art (Yes, that’s art made from Jelly Belly’s.) and the history of Jelly Belly’s. We were lucky enough to have a conductor who was just trying to get through his first day on the job, so there was probably more reading directly from the script than normal. At one point he talked about their “art gallery…thingy” and at another point he forgot his mic was on and hummed along with the music on the video, to the amusement of everyone on the 
train. Despite the fact that the tour was less than stellar, we did enjoy the jelly bean artwork and the Jelly Belly kick-line near the end. Oh, and the free bag of Jelly Belly’s at the end of the tour wasn’t bad either. After a trip through the gift shop and stopping to take a few photos with giant Jelly Belly’s and a Jelly Belly car it was time to hit the road and head for Minneapolis.
We didn’t dawdle much on our way back to Minnesota, but we couldn’t drive six hours through Wisconsin without stopping to buy some cheese! We ended up with cheese, cheese curds (of course), and some soft cheese that you dip crackers into, so once we got back on the road Nancy set up a little cheese smorgasbord for us. Yum.Much of the rest of the drive was spent hoping to hear Fire Burnin’ on our favorite radio station, and when we’d spent 7+ hours in the car and hadn’t heard it we started to get frustrated. How are two girls supposed to finish a 17-day road trip without Fire Burnin’?!? When we heard Nickelback for the 100th time Nancy called the radio station and left a message requesting “Fire Burnin’ by Sean Kingston…and NO MORE NICKELBACK!!” I was so thrilled with her for that last part that I laughed til I couldn’t breathe, but when we got off the highway to turn down my street we still hadn’t heard it. I decided to see what was on our second favorite station (the 90’s station) and we heard Just A Friend (“Oh baby yoooouuu….you got what I neeeeeeed! But you say he’s just a friend! But you say he’s just a friend!”), which was another of our favorites from the trip so we were pretty excited to end on that note. As we pulled into my parking lot I suggested we park outside and empty Big Blue before pulling into the garage so we wouldn’t have to carry him back outside to dump all of the ice and water out. I put the car in park, then said, “One more time. Fire burnin’!!” and hit the button to change the radio station. I’m surprised we didn’t wake the neighbors with our screaming when it really WAS Fire Burnin’!! We couldn’t believe it!! So, naturally, we had one last road trip dance break in my parking lot before emptying Big Blue and unloading the Batmobile one last time.
It’s hard to believe that 17 days on the road could go so fast, but yet here I am sitting at my dining room table blogging about the last two days of the trip. Nancy is back home in Kansas, Colleen has just returned to DC after a business trip to Atlanta earlier this week, and Eva is in the middle of moving to a new home in Phoenix. I think we’re all a little shocked that this trip came together the way it did. No one can pinpoint exactly where the idea came from, but I’m so glad that we did it. This is surely a trip that we’ll remember and talk about for the rest of our lives. We’re hoping to take a trip that requires passports in 2010 (And no, I don’t mean a return trip to Canada!), but I’ve already heard Pants say, “So…WEST Coast Road Trip 2011???”
XOXO from my home in Minnesota y un abrazo muy fuerte a las chicas in travelbug pants,
T*Star/Estrella/Trish
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Updates are hard...
Oh MAN! What a crazy couple of days! It seems like we haven’t blogged… Oops, what’s that about?? Sorry! We did good for the first leg of the trip though, right?? Man, are you in luck today! It seems that T*Star and myself are on the road for the next 10 hours or so (with 3 hours behind us already). Here’s the game plan, this will just be one giant blog… watch for the dates! I hope you like my sense of humor, if not… ummm sorry!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
(This was actually written on July 7th but because we didn’t have a jump drive or wireless access, it was never posted…)
Welcome to Atlantic City, bring on the creepy!
Have I ever told you how much I enjoy the breakfast at the Hampton Inns? Cause I do! Waffles today... mmmmm waffles *drool* Do I really need to write anything else?
Oh, fine… After breakfast we got ready, got packed and off we went!
First we walked around Philly’s Independence Mall (no, not like a shopping mall sillies) which was pretty cool. Colleen and Trish had already been to Philly but it was my first time. The first thing we tried to see was The National Constitution Center, I say tried because it was like $12 to see stuff and we po’! The information lady was nice enough to inform us that we could see the information area, the gift store and the cafeteria… we headed to the gift store! Some of you lucky folks may be getting something Constitution-esque! Luckies! (But don’t get your hopes up cause we didn’t buy a lot… cause we po’.)
We then tried to see the U.S. Mint, tried being the keyword again. We wondered why so many people were sitting outside on the steps but were excited to find it was a free self-guided tour. “Schweet!” we thought until the guard at the door informed us that we couldn’t enter the building with a camera or a camera phone. SON OF A MOTHERLESS GOAT! The people waiting outside were holding stuff for the people who’d gone inside to walk around. WTF?
We trekked on, on to Benjamin Franklin’s grave! (On which Colleen wanted to lie, I did not ask why…) It was $2, seriously? For a grave? Yeah, we didn’t pay that either. I could see Ben Franklin’s grave from behind the gate.
Off to Independence Hall! It seemed pretty cool, oh wait, until you had to pay to WALK AROUND IT! Shouldn’t patriotic things be free? I mean really! I don’t think Ben Franklin wanted someone to charge $2 to see his grave! I feel like maybe I’m giving the wrong impression, I’m not really mad about it, I think it’s silly is all.
At least the Liberty Bell was free! Side bar: for some reason, I earned the right to wear the tiara this morning (though no one could tell me why *cough*) Anyhow, the guard who checked my bag called me a princess. I think it’s nice when people acknowledge my role in the world. :D
Overall, I really enjoyed our stroll through the area but it sure did make us hungry! If you remember, yesterday we had our Philly cheese steaks at Geno’s, today was Pat’s turn. Who would win? Who would take home the East Coast Summer Road Trip ’09’s coveted “Best Philly Cheese Steak” award?
*suspenseful music*
Hands down, Pat’s.
Our Philly trip could not be complete without one last stop. Want to guess? No? Cannolis! We picked Termini Brothers’ Bakery in South Philly. Are you jealous yet? Delicious with a free coffee at Mr. Joe’s Café across the street. Oh yeahhhhh!
Now let me take you on a drive down to
Atlantic City! Come on ride the train, let’s ride it! Choo, Choo! Before we got to our hotel, we took a little detour to visit Lucy. You might be wondering who Lucy is, well, I’ll let you! Lucy is the largest elephant IN THE WORLD! That’s right folks, the largest elephant in the world, I bought a t-shirt that says it, so it has to be true. (She’s not a for realzies elephant, http://www.lucytheelephant.org/ check her out.)
Then we made our way to the hotel, what hotel? The Chelsea Hotel on the boardwalk. Yeah, 4 stars… that’s how we roll my friends, that’s how we roll. After we settled in, we decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk. It was a nice afternoon and we were admiring the scenery when we came across the coolest statue! I decided it worthy of being recreated by Colleen and myself. So we began to pose and laugh and laugh and pose when suddenly Julio appeared. I don’t know if Julio is his real name but that’s what I want to call him. Julio got all up in muh grill and wanted to take Colleen’s place and reenact the statue with me! I walked away and he followed. I said no and he insisted. He asked if I spoke Spanish and I said NO. Finally he left us alone. Thank you creepy!
We walked for another 10 minutes or so when all of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see someone staring at Colleen’s booty. Not only was he staring at her booty he was leaning back and making hissing sounds. I think I will name this guy Jerome. Anyhow, I could see Jerome and I could hear Jerome but what does one do?! I thought about grabbing Colleen’s arm and leading her far, far away! Then I thought that would freak her out because although she touched my arm the other day and told me I was soft, I didn’t think she’d react well to me grabbing her, maybe we’re not as close as I thought… Thankfully Trish saw Jerome too and called Colleen over close to her (and away from Jerome). Jerome was still staring at Colleen’s booty so we quickly made our way to Bally’s, to his dismay. He tried to follow us but stayed outside and made “wtf” motions with his arms as we walked up the stairs. Thank you again creepy! T*Star managed to avoid creepy AND was Colleen’s hero! 2 points to T*Star for not getting whacked with the creepy stick tonight! Way to be T*Star!
We decided to stay inside for a little while and got dinner at one of the restaurants, then we walked a little more through a few of the casinos. That was a lot of fun and we decided to try our hands at the slot machines. Unfortunately, we didn’t win anything but it was nice to play anyway!
Anyhow, that wraps up our blog for the night. I hope everyone is having a creepy-free week.
Lots’o’Love
Nancy Pants
P.S. Tomorrow, when we’re driving around real life Monopoly Land (i.e. Atlantic City) I hope I see my Rich Uncle Pennybags (You know, the top hat guy in the game, who you may also know as Mr. Monopoly, Stanley Monopoly, or Toby) cause I could use a few extra bucks.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Hi… I’m in… Delaware… (Wayne’s World, anyone? Anyone?)
Goodbyeeeeee Atlantic City! Come on ride the ferry! Lets ride it!
We got off to an early start, 8:00 am. Hey, that’s early for us, well, at the beginning of the trip it would have been considered late but for the end, it’s super early. We left our amazing Atlantic City boardwalk Chelsea Hotel and hit the road. We headed towards Cape May to catch the ferry to Lewes, Delaware, where an amazing beach afternoon awaited us! As we pulled in to the ferry dock, we realized we didn’t have enough turkey for one of Nancy’s Amazing Backseat Turkey Sandwiches (It is written.) so we tried to turn around in a totally legitimate way when we were flagged down by 3 friendly neighborhood cops, OMG. They very politely asked us if we were lost, to which we responded, “No, we’re in desperate need of TURKEY!” Then they revealed their secret undercover mission, seatbelt check! Don’t worry folks, we passed with flying colors. Not only that, we are now the proud owners of a police issued vanilla air freshener. Batmobile 1, New Jersey Police Department 0. After we stocked up on turkey, salami, cheese, Gatorade and another case of water, we made our way back to the dock and boarded our ferry, Batmobile and all! Side note: Never, ever put more than 6 Mickey Mouse decals on your family minivan. If you do, you’re askin’ for it! Especially if one of those decals is a stick figure drawing of your family wearing Mickey t-shirts and Mickey ears OR a trailer hitch in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head. Just sayin’. The one hour ferry ride was actually very
pleasant, Batmobile was pleased and Jill was ubber confused… but we liked it! The Batmobile was basically a fish surrounded by water! Finally we made it to Lewes and headed to the beach! The sun never felt so good! We just laid out, soaked in the rays and jammed to America’s top 40 hits! FIRE BURNIN’! It was really relaxing and very sandy! Not notcool.com!
At around 5:00 it was time to head to DC, why so early? Well, T*Star wanted to meet up with a friend who lived in a DC suburb and Megan (Colleen’s sister) had scored Colleen and myself
some tickets to the U.S. vs. Honduras soccer game!!! You’re not as excited about this as I was, are you? Dang. Neither was T*Star. But really, I was super duper excited! These are the games to classify for the World Cup in South Africa next year… So after a mad dash to get to the stadium and some fast talking by Megan (because of a ticket mix up) we managed to get 
into the game! It was a fun game and um, well, the US won! 2-0… Take that Honduras! (Sorry Colleen and Megan <3)>Thursday, July 9, 2009
And then there were 2 ½
2 ½ you say?! Yes, I do. Sad face. Colleen had to go to work today. It was a T*Star and Pants kinda day. Poor Twin (Did I mention that
Colleen and I are identical twins? It was determined in Spain in 2001.) She was on the metro on her way to work at 8:00 a.m. whereas T*Star and myself were in bed till 10:00. Sorry Twin!
T*Star and I just hung out in the morning and I napped a little to get rid of a headache. Megan was working at home this week, so she was gracious enough to let us distract her a little! Big props to Megan for her hostess skills! Thanks for letting us put our crap allllllll over the apartment! At around 1:00 or so, T*Star and I went on a Mexican food search but were unsuccessful so instead we ate at Five Guys. Have you ever been there? If you haven’t, dewwww it! It was very good! After lunch, T*Star and I decided to rock the metro! We made it all the way to the Washington Monument and we could totally see the Lincoln Monument in the distance… then we
turned around got back on the metro and went to pick up Colleen in the car. No really, that’s what we did. The plan was to go to a vineyard but due to traffic and what not, we never made it to the vineyard. We did make it to a fun little bar with like millions of beers! Maybe not millions but it was a cool little place, we had a drink or three and then went home. Bed time!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Don’t you think Annapolitans should be called Annapolisians ?
Hello Annapolis! T*Star and myself got to sleep in a little again today! YaY for sleep! Sleep deprivation is bad, I do not recommend it. We had to store up some sleep for the next day because we had to drive 12 hours. (Today, Saturday)
After we were bright eyed and bushy tailed, we made our way to Annapolis. Hello cute! We parked the car in the tourist information centre, got a map and began exploring! We went to Applebee’s, Colleen. No really, um T*Star had the Santa Fe Chicken Salad, I had the appetizer sampler, mmmmm spinach and artichoke dip! We also ordered Colleen a Chicken Fajita Roll-up and then we threw it on the floor and said “This one is for our homie” we got dirty looks but it was important. No really, we always eat at
Applebee’s.. like all the time, yup, all the time. We loveee us some Applebee’s! In fact, it might be dinner tonight. Chicken Fajita Roll-up Colleen? After our amazing lunch, we roamed the streets and peeked into the many adorable shops in the area near City Dock. Our favorite was a shop in which everything was recycled and we especially liked the things they made out of forks, such as napkin holders rings and business card holders! They also had these super cute glasses made from recycled bottles. I wish I would have bought some! In another store, we found pink polka dot monogrammed beer coozies. No “N’ or “T” we were sad!
Back to D.C.! In D.C. we were delighted to smell the fruits of Megan’s hard work… brownies! Mmmm Brownies *drool* After Twin came home from work we made our way to Megan’s friend Juan’s house! Say that three times fast! It was a very nice low key BBQ, with lots of funny conversations and good eating! Thank you Megan for inviting us and thank you Juan for hosting! Bed time!
That’s really it folks, nothing too crazy, noting too fancy. We went home, packed our bags, did a little dance in honor of “Five little monkeys jumping on the bed” and put in a phone call to Mom*Star suggesting a certain favorite hot dish for dinner for our arrival to Chicago. *cough*hint*hint*cough*ConnecticutBeef*cough*hint*mom*star*cough*
Finally, we headed to bed and got a full 3 hours, yes folks 3 whole hours (see why we needed to stalk up on sleep the day before?). But as I type this blog, we are all of 2 hours away from Mom*Star… man I’m hungry…. :)
As far today goes, Saturday, July 11th, it’time has gone by, as have the states. Other than a monsoon in Ohio and a few dance interludes to all of our favorite road trip song (which did not always play) we have had a pretty uneventful drive. We can’t believe that we’ll be in Chicago in just about two hours and already have 10 hours behind us. What a day! The road trip is slowly but surely coming to an end, sad face. And then there were 2.
But wait! Don’t stop reading yet, there might be a special Jelly Belly surprise tomorrow!
Just sayin’…. *cough*ConneticutBeef*cough*
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
(This was actually written on July 7th but because we didn’t have a jump drive or wireless access, it was never posted…)
Welcome to Atlantic City, bring on the creepy!
Have I ever told you how much I enjoy the breakfast at the Hampton Inns? Cause I do! Waffles today... mmmmm waffles *drool* Do I really need to write anything else?
Oh, fine… After breakfast we got ready, got packed and off we went!
First we walked around Philly’s Independence Mall (no, not like a shopping mall sillies) which was pretty cool. Colleen and Trish had already been to Philly but it was my first time. The first thing we tried to see was The National Constitution Center, I say tried because it was like $12 to see stuff and we po’! The information lady was nice enough to inform us that we could see the information area, the gift store and the cafeteria… we headed to the gift store! Some of you lucky folks may be getting something Constitution-esque! Luckies! (But don’t get your hopes up cause we didn’t buy a lot… cause we po’.)
We then tried to see the U.S. Mint, tried being the keyword again. We wondered why so many people were sitting outside on the steps but were excited to find it was a free self-guided tour. “Schweet!” we thought until the guard at the door informed us that we couldn’t enter the building with a camera or a camera phone. SON OF A MOTHERLESS GOAT! The people waiting outside were holding stuff for the people who’d gone inside to walk around. WTF?
We trekked on, on to Benjamin Franklin’s grave! (On which Colleen wanted to lie, I did not ask why…) It was $2, seriously? For a grave? Yeah, we didn’t pay that either. I could see Ben Franklin’s grave from behind the gate.
Off to Independence Hall! It seemed pretty cool, oh wait, until you had to pay to WALK AROUND IT! Shouldn’t patriotic things be free? I mean really! I don’t think Ben Franklin wanted someone to charge $2 to see his grave! I feel like maybe I’m giving the wrong impression, I’m not really mad about it, I think it’s silly is all.
At least the Liberty Bell was free! Side bar: for some reason, I earned the right to wear the tiara this morning (though no one could tell me why *cough*) Anyhow, the guard who checked my bag called me a princess. I think it’s nice when people acknowledge my role in the world. :D
Overall, I really enjoyed our stroll through the area but it sure did make us hungry! If you remember, yesterday we had our Philly cheese steaks at Geno’s, today was Pat’s turn. Who would win? Who would take home the East Coast Summer Road Trip ’09’s coveted “Best Philly Cheese Steak” award?
*suspenseful music*
Hands down, Pat’s.
Our Philly trip could not be complete without one last stop. Want to guess? No? Cannolis! We picked Termini Brothers’ Bakery in South Philly. Are you jealous yet? Delicious with a free coffee at Mr. Joe’s Café across the street. Oh yeahhhhh!
Now let me take you on a drive down to
Atlantic City! Come on ride the train, let’s ride it! Choo, Choo! Before we got to our hotel, we took a little detour to visit Lucy. You might be wondering who Lucy is, well, I’ll let you! Lucy is the largest elephant IN THE WORLD! That’s right folks, the largest elephant in the world, I bought a t-shirt that says it, so it has to be true. (She’s not a for realzies elephant, http://www.lucytheelephant.org/ check her out.)
Then we made our way to the hotel, what hotel? The Chelsea Hotel on the boardwalk. Yeah, 4 stars… that’s how we roll my friends, that’s how we roll. After we settled in, we decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk. It was a nice afternoon and we were admiring the scenery when we came across the coolest statue! I decided it worthy of being recreated by Colleen and myself. So we began to pose and laugh and laugh and pose when suddenly Julio appeared. I don’t know if Julio is his real name but that’s what I want to call him. Julio got all up in muh grill and wanted to take Colleen’s place and reenact the statue with me! I walked away and he followed. I said no and he insisted. He asked if I spoke Spanish and I said NO. Finally he left us alone. Thank you creepy!
We walked for another 10 minutes or so when all of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see someone staring at Colleen’s booty. Not only was he staring at her booty he was leaning back and making hissing sounds. I think I will name this guy Jerome. Anyhow, I could see Jerome and I could hear Jerome but what does one do?! I thought about grabbing Colleen’s arm and leading her far, far away! Then I thought that would freak her out because although she touched my arm the other day and told me I was soft, I didn’t think she’d react well to me grabbing her, maybe we’re not as close as I thought… Thankfully Trish saw Jerome too and called Colleen over close to her (and away from Jerome). Jerome was still staring at Colleen’s booty so we quickly made our way to Bally’s, to his dismay. He tried to follow us but stayed outside and made “wtf” motions with his arms as we walked up the stairs. Thank you again creepy! T*Star managed to avoid creepy AND was Colleen’s hero! 2 points to T*Star for not getting whacked with the creepy stick tonight! Way to be T*Star!
We decided to stay inside for a little while and got dinner at one of the restaurants, then we walked a little more through a few of the casinos. That was a lot of fun and we decided to try our hands at the slot machines. Unfortunately, we didn’t win anything but it was nice to play anyway!
Anyhow, that wraps up our blog for the night. I hope everyone is having a creepy-free week.
Lots’o’Love
Nancy Pants
P.S. Tomorrow, when we’re driving around real life Monopoly Land (i.e. Atlantic City) I hope I see my Rich Uncle Pennybags (You know, the top hat guy in the game, who you may also know as Mr. Monopoly, Stanley Monopoly, or Toby) cause I could use a few extra bucks.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Hi… I’m in… Delaware… (Wayne’s World, anyone? Anyone?)
Goodbyeeeeee Atlantic City! Come on ride the ferry! Lets ride it!
We got off to an early start, 8:00 am. Hey, that’s early for us, well, at the beginning of the trip it would have been considered late but for the end, it’s super early. We left our amazing Atlantic City boardwalk Chelsea Hotel and hit the road. We headed towards Cape May to catch the ferry to Lewes, Delaware, where an amazing beach afternoon awaited us! As we pulled in to the ferry dock, we realized we didn’t have enough turkey for one of Nancy’s Amazing Backseat Turkey Sandwiches (It is written.) so we tried to turn around in a totally legitimate way when we were flagged down by 3 friendly neighborhood cops, OMG. They very politely asked us if we were lost, to which we responded, “No, we’re in desperate need of TURKEY!” Then they revealed their secret undercover mission, seatbelt check! Don’t worry folks, we passed with flying colors. Not only that, we are now the proud owners of a police issued vanilla air freshener. Batmobile 1, New Jersey Police Department 0. After we stocked up on turkey, salami, cheese, Gatorade and another case of water, we made our way back to the dock and boarded our ferry, Batmobile and all! Side note: Never, ever put more than 6 Mickey Mouse decals on your family minivan. If you do, you’re askin’ for it! Especially if one of those decals is a stick figure drawing of your family wearing Mickey t-shirts and Mickey ears OR a trailer hitch in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head. Just sayin’. The one hour ferry ride was actually very
pleasant, Batmobile was pleased and Jill was ubber confused… but we liked it! The Batmobile was basically a fish surrounded by water! Finally we made it to Lewes and headed to the beach! The sun never felt so good! We just laid out, soaked in the rays and jammed to America’s top 40 hits! FIRE BURNIN’! It was really relaxing and very sandy! Not notcool.com!
At around 5:00 it was time to head to DC, why so early? Well, T*Star wanted to meet up with a friend who lived in a DC suburb and Megan (Colleen’s sister) had scored Colleen and myself
some tickets to the U.S. vs. Honduras soccer game!!! You’re not as excited about this as I was, are you? Dang. Neither was T*Star. But really, I was super duper excited! These are the games to classify for the World Cup in South Africa next year… So after a mad dash to get to the stadium and some fast talking by Megan (because of a ticket mix up) we managed to get 
into the game! It was a fun game and um, well, the US won! 2-0… Take that Honduras! (Sorry Colleen and Megan <3)>Thursday, July 9, 2009
And then there were 2 ½
2 ½ you say?! Yes, I do. Sad face. Colleen had to go to work today. It was a T*Star and Pants kinda day. Poor Twin (Did I mention that
Colleen and I are identical twins? It was determined in Spain in 2001.) She was on the metro on her way to work at 8:00 a.m. whereas T*Star and myself were in bed till 10:00. Sorry Twin!
T*Star and I just hung out in the morning and I napped a little to get rid of a headache. Megan was working at home this week, so she was gracious enough to let us distract her a little! Big props to Megan for her hostess skills! Thanks for letting us put our crap allllllll over the apartment! At around 1:00 or so, T*Star and I went on a Mexican food search but were unsuccessful so instead we ate at Five Guys. Have you ever been there? If you haven’t, dewwww it! It was very good! After lunch, T*Star and I decided to rock the metro! We made it all the way to the Washington Monument and we could totally see the Lincoln Monument in the distance… then we
turned around got back on the metro and went to pick up Colleen in the car. No really, that’s what we did. The plan was to go to a vineyard but due to traffic and what not, we never made it to the vineyard. We did make it to a fun little bar with like millions of beers! Maybe not millions but it was a cool little place, we had a drink or three and then went home. Bed time!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Don’t you think Annapolitans should be called Annapolisians ?
Hello Annapolis! T*Star and myself got to sleep in a little again today! YaY for sleep! Sleep deprivation is bad, I do not recommend it. We had to store up some sleep for the next day because we had to drive 12 hours. (Today, Saturday)
After we were bright eyed and bushy tailed, we made our way to Annapolis. Hello cute! We parked the car in the tourist information centre, got a map and began exploring! We went to Applebee’s, Colleen. No really, um T*Star had the Santa Fe Chicken Salad, I had the appetizer sampler, mmmmm spinach and artichoke dip! We also ordered Colleen a Chicken Fajita Roll-up and then we threw it on the floor and said “This one is for our homie” we got dirty looks but it was important. No really, we always eat at
Applebee’s.. like all the time, yup, all the time. We loveee us some Applebee’s! In fact, it might be dinner tonight. Chicken Fajita Roll-up Colleen? After our amazing lunch, we roamed the streets and peeked into the many adorable shops in the area near City Dock. Our favorite was a shop in which everything was recycled and we especially liked the things they made out of forks, such as napkin holders rings and business card holders! They also had these super cute glasses made from recycled bottles. I wish I would have bought some! In another store, we found pink polka dot monogrammed beer coozies. No “N’ or “T” we were sad!
Back to D.C.! In D.C. we were delighted to smell the fruits of Megan’s hard work… brownies! Mmmm Brownies *drool* After Twin came home from work we made our way to Megan’s friend Juan’s house! Say that three times fast! It was a very nice low key BBQ, with lots of funny conversations and good eating! Thank you Megan for inviting us and thank you Juan for hosting! Bed time!
That’s really it folks, nothing too crazy, noting too fancy. We went home, packed our bags, did a little dance in honor of “Five little monkeys jumping on the bed” and put in a phone call to Mom*Star suggesting a certain favorite hot dish for dinner for our arrival to Chicago. *cough*hint*hint*cough*ConnecticutBeef*cough*hint*mom*star*cough*
Finally, we headed to bed and got a full 3 hours, yes folks 3 whole hours (see why we needed to stalk up on sleep the day before?). But as I type this blog, we are all of 2 hours away from Mom*Star… man I’m hungry…. :)
As far today goes, Saturday, July 11th, it’time has gone by, as have the states. Other than a monsoon in Ohio and a few dance interludes to all of our favorite road trip song (which did not always play) we have had a pretty uneventful drive. We can’t believe that we’ll be in Chicago in just about two hours and already have 10 hours behind us. What a day! The road trip is slowly but surely coming to an end, sad face. And then there were 2.
But wait! Don’t stop reading yet, there might be a special Jelly Belly surprise tomorrow!
Just sayin’…. *cough*ConneticutBeef*cough*
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Technical Difficulties
Hi everyone!
We hope everything is going well! All is well on our end, though we are experiencing technical difficulties. We actually have our blog typed out from Tuesday the 7th but we can't seem to transfer it from one computer (with no internet) to this computer (with internet)! We're trying though! If nothing else, we'll post that blog and another super duper cool one afterwards! No really, we will! We're in DC for now and T*Star and Nancy*Pants head to Chi-Town on Saturday and then back to Minneapolis. We'll try to post something before then though!
Lots'o'love,
T*Star, Crackleen and Nancy*Pants
We hope everything is going well! All is well on our end, though we are experiencing technical difficulties. We actually have our blog typed out from Tuesday the 7th but we can't seem to transfer it from one computer (with no internet) to this computer (with internet)! We're trying though! If nothing else, we'll post that blog and another super duper cool one afterwards! No really, we will! We're in DC for now and T*Star and Nancy*Pants head to Chi-Town on Saturday and then back to Minneapolis. We'll try to post something before then though!
Lots'o'love,
T*Star, Crackleen and Nancy*Pants
Monday, July 6, 2009
Don’t eat a Misteak
Get it? Philly Cheese Steak… Misteak? We loved that sign! Colleen here, here being Pennsylvania. I dragged myself out of a dream this morning (in our hotel just outside of Hershey, PA) at a ripe old hour of 8:30 (our next few days are pretty low key) in which Mark Wahlberg was pouring me a 
beer at a pub… I think it’s a sign that we’re going to see famous people any day now! We ate a quick breakfast (pretty bleak spread, even for Days Inn!) and hopped into the bat mobile for a quick ride over to Hershey, PA. We took an amazing moving cart tour of the fabulousness that is Chocolate World twice because it really was that nice (imagine these 3 adorable cows singing to you, the word that would come to your mind would be: fabulous, right?!), did a chocolate tasting in 
which we all earned masters degrees in chocolate tasting, and watched a hysterical little 3D movie on the history of chocolate. The 3D movie necessitated some pretty sweet glasses that we hope you’ll love, too, and was full of seat moving, rain falling, and mouse to toe swooshing (fake mice, silly). The only possible thing it lacked was actual Hershey Kisses falling on the audience, which we were pretty sad about, but hey, it had EVERYTHING else we imagined 3D would! I was very proud of my recent visit to Ecuador where 
I was invited to visit a friend at his cocoa farm/ banana farm/ animal rescue center and got to see cocoa plants in every stage of growth. His daughter (who is a manager at the farm/center) picked a cocoa pod off a tree for us, cracked it open and shared with us the goodness that is the pulp around cocoa beans. And here you thought it was just cocoa beans that were good! We learned, in Hershey University, that monkeys taught humans about cocoa beans when they would open the pods and eat the pulp, spitting the bitter seeds to the ground to ferment and turn into what we today call cocoa beans… They probably used to call (and still do, for all I know) them oooh ooooh ooooooooooooh eeeeeehs, or something equally 
monkeylike. Hershey University also taught us that in a proper chocolate tasting you have to 1) Look, 2) Listen, 3) Smell, and 4) Taste. T*Star took this awesome pic of Nancy listening to her chocolate and I decided T*Star should look at mine. You know, since it's one of the steps.
After our Chocolate World enjoyment, we hopped back into the bat mobile and drove a couple more hours on to Philadelphia. En route we saw a sign for Starner Road, which happens to be the last name of one of our fabulous four road trippers, and so we made sure to pass off the tiara (yes one of the other road tripper had the tiara on in the
car and in Chocolate World, Eva aren’t you proud?!). Nancy’s crackberry apparently isn’t as big of a fan of PA as we are, and it has blocked internet for the last 24 hours. She was finally able to call tech support this evening and in her 45 min call with “Terrance”, she discovered that he a- lives in Virginia just outside of DC, b- will be her official road trip phone boyfriend, and c- recently saw the latest Transformers movie. T*Stars boyfriend, who we lovingly refer to as Fleak (the Fly as he is what is commonly referred to as a house fly), was kicked out of the car after he a- slept with T*Star/on the wall in our hotel room, b- snuck into the car and got a free ride almost all of the way to Philly, and c- was shooed out the window after tickling Colleen’s toes in typical mosca fashion.
After settling into the hotel we headed to South Philly to see the cheese steak competition between Geno’s and Pat’s, noting that Geno’s had a shorter line, so we ate dinner there. It was pretty darn good, mostly because of the secret ingredient: whiz… cheese whiz. We’re pretty stoked to be able to compare the two restaurants with a trip to Pat’s tomorrow for lunch as they are both Philly Phamous! After our filling dinner, we walked around downtown looking at all of the statues of Ben Franklin (they’re a bit obsessed with him around here… he must be *kinda* a big deal) and all of the fun artsy statues. Artsy Statue #1 on our tour: LO (over) VE. Very happy lil statue, and very well loved by all tourists and even locals! Artsy Statue Series #2: Monopoly pieces such as the iron, top hat, and wheel barrow! Artsy Statue Series #3: Sorry pieces, both yellow and red! Artsy Statue Series #4: Dominoes!! Artsy Statue Series #5: BINGO. Artsy Statue Series #6: Chess Pieces. It was the most fun you can have with statues if you luuurve board games like we do!
beer at a pub… I think it’s a sign that we’re going to see famous people any day now! We ate a quick breakfast (pretty bleak spread, even for Days Inn!) and hopped into the bat mobile for a quick ride over to Hershey, PA. We took an amazing moving cart tour of the fabulousness that is Chocolate World twice because it really was that nice (imagine these 3 adorable cows singing to you, the word that would come to your mind would be: fabulous, right?!), did a chocolate tasting in 
which we all earned masters degrees in chocolate tasting, and watched a hysterical little 3D movie on the history of chocolate. The 3D movie necessitated some pretty sweet glasses that we hope you’ll love, too, and was full of seat moving, rain falling, and mouse to toe swooshing (fake mice, silly). The only possible thing it lacked was actual Hershey Kisses falling on the audience, which we were pretty sad about, but hey, it had EVERYTHING else we imagined 3D would! I was very proud of my recent visit to Ecuador where 
I was invited to visit a friend at his cocoa farm/ banana farm/ animal rescue center and got to see cocoa plants in every stage of growth. His daughter (who is a manager at the farm/center) picked a cocoa pod off a tree for us, cracked it open and shared with us the goodness that is the pulp around cocoa beans. And here you thought it was just cocoa beans that were good! We learned, in Hershey University, that monkeys taught humans about cocoa beans when they would open the pods and eat the pulp, spitting the bitter seeds to the ground to ferment and turn into what we today call cocoa beans… They probably used to call (and still do, for all I know) them oooh ooooh ooooooooooooh eeeeeehs, or something equally 
monkeylike. Hershey University also taught us that in a proper chocolate tasting you have to 1) Look, 2) Listen, 3) Smell, and 4) Taste. T*Star took this awesome pic of Nancy listening to her chocolate and I decided T*Star should look at mine. You know, since it's one of the steps.After our Chocolate World enjoyment, we hopped back into the bat mobile and drove a couple more hours on to Philadelphia. En route we saw a sign for Starner Road, which happens to be the last name of one of our fabulous four road trippers, and so we made sure to pass off the tiara (yes one of the other road tripper had the tiara on in the
car and in Chocolate World, Eva aren’t you proud?!). Nancy’s crackberry apparently isn’t as big of a fan of PA as we are, and it has blocked internet for the last 24 hours. She was finally able to call tech support this evening and in her 45 min call with “Terrance”, she discovered that he a- lives in Virginia just outside of DC, b- will be her official road trip phone boyfriend, and c- recently saw the latest Transformers movie. T*Stars boyfriend, who we lovingly refer to as Fleak (the Fly as he is what is commonly referred to as a house fly), was kicked out of the car after he a- slept with T*Star/on the wall in our hotel room, b- snuck into the car and got a free ride almost all of the way to Philly, and c- was shooed out the window after tickling Colleen’s toes in typical mosca fashion.
After settling into the hotel we headed to South Philly to see the cheese steak competition between Geno’s and Pat’s, noting that Geno’s had a shorter line, so we ate dinner there. It was pretty darn good, mostly because of the secret ingredient: whiz… cheese whiz. We’re pretty stoked to be able to compare the two restaurants with a trip to Pat’s tomorrow for lunch as they are both Philly Phamous! After our filling dinner, we walked around downtown looking at all of the statues of Ben Franklin (they’re a bit obsessed with him around here… he must be *kinda* a big deal) and all of the fun artsy statues. Artsy Statue #1 on our tour: LO (over) VE. Very happy lil statue, and very well loved by all tourists and even locals! Artsy Statue Series #2: Monopoly pieces such as the iron, top hat, and wheel barrow! Artsy Statue Series #3: Sorry pieces, both yellow and red! Artsy Statue Series #4: Dominoes!! Artsy Statue Series #5: BINGO. Artsy Statue Series #6: Chess Pieces. It was the most fun you can have with statues if you luuurve board games like we do!
We are a bit exhausted from such an awesome first 11 days of the road trip, so we’re hoping (ok, I’m hoping) to turn in before ten for the first time in 11 days. Hope Mark Wahlberg visits all of your dreams… or just mine… and thanks for reading! We’re also double (some call it multi) tasking and getting more pics in tonight, so be sure to look back over old blog posts after enjoying this one! Love, Crack, Pants, & Estrella (and Evabug in spirit!!! We miss you already, hon!!!!)
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