Make it so.

Captain's Log--Stardate 062109

Yet another pre-typed post:

Yay for being in Edmonton! We finally made it to the pinnacle of our trip! We are at a super nice hotel IN THE MALL! Sadly, this is the one place that offers internet but doesn’t have it for FREE. It’s like 9 dollars a person. Reeeeediculous!

We ate at the cheap hotel restaurant and the service was bad, and I was cranky! It took about an HOUR to eat a samich!

Why are commercials ALWAYS about fooooood? Grrrr. Stupid

Tiffany and I got in the super nice in-room hot tub with a waterfall!! Although we got a bit ridiculous. At some point Tiffany started singing the Hokey Pokey while DOING the hokey pokey in the hot tub. ^^;; There are so many shops in the mall! Including a water park, a theme park, a bowling alley, and 3 McDonaldses.

I finally bought Ender’s Game! So after our hot tubbing, Tiffany and I maded some hot cocoa and are bogged up in the bed watching Runaway Bride and then going to READ BOOKS! Whoooo!

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So Ender's Game is amazing. Tiffany and I camped out at a Starbucks in the mall and read for about three hours this morning, then watched some random Native American dancers and now we are established in our motel for the evening. Sadly, our reservation is lost in the ether, but I can't complain too much. After all, we have been on the road for weeks now and this is the first lodging snag we've come across!

Back to Ender's Game. :)

Captain's Log--Stardate 061809

So I have been rather remiss in my updating, sorry sorry! I even pretyped a post from the other day...and then forgot to upload it. ^^; But here it is!

Captain’s Log--Stardate 061409

I am writing this from my car! Haha! I found a solution to my time crunch issue! We are about 45 minutes from Seattle and the ORIGINAL STARBUCKS!!!! Whoooo! I’m so excited! Coffee for EVERYONE! Also, Starbuckses are now giving out COUPONS to SB products you can purchase in the supermarket. I picked up a book for myself and you should too! J

We are going to get some coffee with Mallory, provided that we ever get to Seattle. We’ve been stuck in heavy traffic for a while. In fact, the state of Washington oh-so-helpfully has those electronic signs up…and they say “heavy traffic”. Gee. I hadn’t noticed. Thanks.

Oh 90s country, you make me giggle. “Boot Scootin Boogie” and “I Like My Women a Little on the Trashy Side”.

We went to church this morning in Salem, OR. It was pretty oldschool Baptist. I felt like we drove 4k miles only to still be in Texarkana. Speaking of, we have gone about 4,100 miles! I hope that we make it the entire trip without having to get my oil changed. My oil is at 50% right now, so who knows?

“Ignition (Remix)” just came on the radio and I am jamming to it. J

Tomorrow is CANADA!

Back to THIS update! I have had a bit of a cold the past couple of days, but seem to be doing better now. I took a tylenol PM nad passed out in the car for 5 hours en route to Penticton, BC. I am not attempting to do my linguistics coursework while stoned on medicine. ...Effective.

I went over a HUGE suspension bridge the other day! That was an accomplishment for me. I am afraid of bridges in general, nevermind SUSPENSION bridges. That goes triple for huge ones over canyons.

I find it really funny that I'm sitting in Canada listening to spoof country music. It's like weird al, except country.

I have had so much Chinese food since coming to Canada, it's been great! And dim sum with Tiffany's grandparents was soooooooooooo yummy!! My favourite was the pork buns and the sticky rice! It came in leaves! It was exciting!

Now I am being herded out of the house to go see the sights? Or something. Starbucks wil be involved, so I'm sold! ;)

This is Laurie, signing out! Mwah! :)

Captain's Log--Stardate 061309

Day...Twelve? I think?

I have entirely too many irons in the fire, here! Between studying for the PT exam, brushing up my French, editing Tiffany's book, studying for my linguistics course, driving, and doing fun stuff I am B-U-S-Y! Finding wireless has been an endeavor. I get two free hours of wireless at Starbucks, but if that is the only wireless I get for the day, most of that is spent doing linguistics 'cause I kinda should do my schoolwork first.

The Pacific is much colder than the Atlantic, but smells better. Tiff and I saw SEALS in the water! It was so cold it caused our legs to BURN. That's pretty freaking cold water.

I am presently in Salem, Oregon! Tomorrow I am going to the ORIGINAL STARBUCKS! Also I am going to meet up with my roommate, because she is randomly going to be in Seattle at the exact same time! She will have been there for 2 days, so I told her she had 48 hours to find the best coffeehouse in the city. I bet she accomplished her mission. Mallory loves coffee even more than I do!

I always think of really neat things to blog about...but it's always when I'm either in the shower or driving, and I inevitably forget by the time I reach the computer. Or I just feel like I have blogged, 'cause I kinda self-blogged...in my head.

Las Vegas was amazing! I loved all the lights, and cool things! I saw the worlds largest chocolate fountain in the Bellagio. LA was not a very fun part of the trip for me. For one, Tiffany's family had all diet or soy to eat/drink, so I starved. Also, I just didn't like the city. But! We successfully managed BOTH the subway and the bus systems! And I got my picture taken with Yoda. San Fran I liked MUCH better. We had an Asian-themed day were we went to the Japanese Tea Garden, the botanical gardens, the Asian Art Museum (LOTS of cool things. And SHINIES!), and then CHINATOWN! I would totally go back to San Fran. Oh! And we got video footage of the Golden Gate. (Complete with John Williams theme music! ;) ).

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is TOTALLY worth the trek. We saw A Servant of Two Masters and it was FREAKING HILARIOUS! I laughed so much my throat hurt! It was quasi-moderized, and the random bits of current events made it EVEN FUNNIER!

I have ended up doing a lot of the driving 'cause Tiffany is afraid of driving when there are more than two lanes and/or in large cities. So sheltered!

Not being able to pump my own gas in the state of Oregon is bothering me. One, I want to do it myself, and two, I am unsure as to whether or not I should tip the gas attendants. It leaves me feeling socially out-of-place on all accounts. Disgruntled!Laurie

I will be even more incommunicado after the 15th because I will be in CANADA!!! And my phone won't work.

There is a lot I should ahve remembered to blog. Sad day. But for now, I sleep! :)

This is Laurie, signing out. ;)

Captain's Log--Stardate 060409

Day Three:

I am presently holed up in a coffeehouse in Gallup, New Mexico, enjoying live blues music. Someone is even playing some instrument that looks like a big stick with a string. And the banjo!

In other news: Tiffany and I managed to leave TEN MINUTES early for the Aztec Ruins today, whooo go us! Ten minutes early is like....an HOUR early in Laurie-time! Do not be mislead. The "Aztec Ruins" are not from Aztecs. That would be much further south. Nono, these are Plueblo Indians, stupid white people just thought they were Aztecs and the name stuck. Go figure. But! The ruins were super spiffy, Tiff has plenty of pictures to share on facebook.

In one day, Tiffany and I traversed almost the entirety of New Mexico, boy did THAT suck. We have discovered that New Mexicans cannot drive, and NM epically fails at posting signs. For ANYTHING. 'What road are we on? I have NO CLUE, there hasn't been a road sign for the past hour and a half....'. Yeah.

Also, there are almost NO coffeehouses with wi-fi. None! We found this one cause we prayed to Jesus AND found a lucky penny. Fo sho.

We stumbled across a random Insian festval next to the coffeehouse, so we got some pictures and video footage of Indian dancing/music. Epic win :)

Tomorrow is the GRAND CANYON!!!!! Whooooooo!!! I hope I don't drop the camera... ^^;

This is Laurie, signing out.

Captain's Log--Stardate 060309

Day Two.

Today we spent an extended period of time traversing the wasteland that is New Mexico. There is NOTHING HERE. For reals.

Carlsbad Caverns was AMAZING, see my facebook for photos and Tiff's for details. I am far too lazy. ;)

Then we trucked it over to Roswell, NM to see the Alien Museum and Research Centre. I have a few minutes of humorous video footage to evidence this.

Presently, Tiffany and I have tracked down the only coffee place in this one-horse town and are mooching their wireless internet...though I don't guess it counts as mooching, as I paid 4.50 for a large mocha. My ONLY COFFEE TODAY!!! I almost died! (Exaggeration. However, I did get cranky!)

The mountains in New Mexico are rather picturesque. We passed through a bunch with lovely trees on them, and I liked that, but now these just have random scruffy grass and shrubberies. Many Monty Python quotes have abounded (Nic!).

Unrelated: Last night Tiffany and I were gearing down for bed and I had a thought. I wonder if God calls us all by individual names. As in...God has a totally unique name for us, not necessarily what our parents chose to name us. This rather appeals to me. And after all, 50,000 "John Smiths" in heaven would get rather confusing! ;)

This is Laurie, signing out.

Captain's Log--Stardate 060209

Day One

Today, Tiffany and I left on our Super Ultimate Road Trip EXTRAVAGANZA!!!1 After a token amount of false starts, the trip was underway at about 9:40. We ate on the road and arrived in Midland, TX sometime about 5:45 pm. That is SO FREAKING LONG in the car. I find it unfortunate that Tiffany and I have different musical tastes.

Events:
-12:43--first exploded car sighted
-6:49--first arrest witnessed
-8:05--dust storm hits Midland, tornado watch issued

Because I am poor and have no job, I am being forced to undergo COFFEE DEPRIVATION during this trip. I'm down to one or two cups a DAY! A DAY!! I don't know which one of us will crack first, Tiffany or myself due to me being crazy without my maintenance dose. I DO have my super emergency stash of blackblack, courtesy of Brooks. (Thaaaanks Brooooks! <3 )

Mom tried to convince me to bring a machete with me on the trip...I did not see that ending well for any party involved. Instead, she made me bring a very small fire extinguisher....but not to put out fires....Oh no. It's to bludgeon people to death, if we have car trouble. ^^;

And DAD told Papaw that we would be bringing his gun with us on the trip. Even WORSE of an idea. I have no issue with firearms, and I am a fair shot, but....you can't bring guns into Canada. And you CERTAINLY should NOT lie and tell the Canadian border police that you "don't know how that got there" when referring to a GUN. My family.... Oy.

I'm dyeing my hair tonight! :) I'm pretty excited about it! Although, I will look retarded for about two days, while the excess red washes out, but it's all good. Nobody knows me in New Mexico. OMG! I might see a roadrunner! ^__^ I am plotting to try and catch a tumbleweed.

Tomorrow's Agenda:
1) eat free breakfast
2) steal breakfast foods for a snack later
3) Carlsbad Caverns
4) Roswell Alien Museum
5) drive to Alamogordo, NM to crash for the night