Day Ten - May 28, 2009

HOME STRETCH DAY!!!!

We were super excited about this day because it was short and because we were almost to Covina! So because Stacy was so eager to get home we left Vegas about 9:30 am. On our way out we made a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts (Stacy was so excited about this, she raced across 3 lanes of traffic just to get off).

-10:50 am: BUENOS DIAS CALI, ADIOS NEVADA!
-10:56 am: 222 (Two twoty two, haha Mom!) miles away from LA.
-11:47 am: Stopped for gas. This was try two after Stacy stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, CA and the asking price for unleaded was $3.69.
-11:56 am: Zzyzx Rd. Yes this is an actual street name.... those crazy Californians.

-12:33 pm: Agricultural Inspection. Don't worry California we didn't have any fruit or plants... or illegal immigrants

-12:35 pm: Peggy Sue's 50s Diner. We didn't see Peggy Sue but Cindy Lou (she was a little too old for her parents to be basketball fans, sorry Larry) was our waitress. The food was delicious and the diner was adorable, complete with a "diner-saur" park and tons of 50s memorabilia on the walls.

-3:38: E. DEXTER STREET!!!!! Hello Geiss familia!


Approximate total mileage: 3299.6 miles
Total number of license plates found: 45 states + 2 Canada + 1 Mexico + 1 Belize
License plates missing: Alabama, Hawaii, Maryland, North Dakota, West Virginia
Crazy town names along the way: Schenectady, NY; Canajoharie, NY; Canandaigua, NY; Oneonta, NY; Cheektowaga, NY; Sterrettania, PA; Ypsilanti, MI (debatable, this is according to Stacy); Kankakee, IL; Farmersville, IL; Ogallah, KS
Number of states we went through: 14
Number of times we got lost: 1 - be impressed, I know I am
Amazing-ness of our trip: Priceless (not including the cost of the truck rental, gas, or food)



We both had so much fun on our trip even though it was very long at times. We both agree that we would do it again, with possible modifications because even though we had a lot of fun, by the end of the trip we were so sick of seeing the inside of Dot that we went a little stir-crazy. We hope you all enjoyed our blogs as much as we enjoyed keeping track of everything. It made it so much more fun to keep an eye out for stuff especially when we kept hearing how much people enjoyed our adventures.

Unfortunately, this is our last blog about our road trip but who knows maybe in the future we will come up with another crazy idea that we can share with you guys.

Love, LaFonda & LaStasia aka Marissa & Stacy

Day Nine - May 27, 2009

Well after our crazy night we got the chance to sleep in a little bit, which was wonderful after our two extremely long days. At 10:52 am, after a restful sleep, in a very cool house in the middle of Utah, and a breakfast of homemade pancakes and sausage by Scott (Thanks Scott!), we were on our way to Vegas! At this point Stacy has officially become the driver of Dot, which I was totally okay with...

-11:24 am: First sign of civilization.... First IN-N-OUT of the trip!!!!!
-11:30 am: Stopped for gas in St. George, UT
-12:00 pm: ARIZONA!!
-12:07 pm: "Arizona Strip District".... Joe relax, they are public lands.

-12:30 pm: Before we knew it we were in NEVADA.....and then 12:34 pm became 11:34 am, yet another hour gained!

-11:57 am: LAS VEGAS only 47 miles! And the first mention of Los Angeles 336 miles!
-12:00 pm: Arrive at Jack's (super grande) house!

It was a million degrees outside by the time we got to Vegas but we decide to unload my stuff to get it out of the way. Thanks to Jack for helping us unload and for keeping all of my cra-er-stuff for a few months before I move back. After we finished unloading and re-packing the remainder of the stuff on the truck, we hung out for a little bit for going to hang out with PAMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYLLLLLLAAAAAA (as Stacy likes to call her). Pam was kind enough to drive out to the middle of nowhere to come get us and Brian was nice enough to come along so that Pam didn't get completely lost trying to find the house. After getting an awesome tour of MLK boulevard trying to get on to 15 south, Pam & Brian took us to eat at Bahama Breeze.

Apparently the liquor laws are very strict in Las Vegas and we learned this thanks to Stacy's attempt to get a Dos Equis. After 15 minutes of double checking with his manager, our server spent about an hour explaining to us all the details of how much fines are ($100,000), who has to pay those fines (50/50 server & restaurant), and what paper work has to be done (I can't even remember all of it but it was a lot).

After our dinner, we dropped off Brian and Pam took us down to the Strip to walk around. First we went to Planet Hollywood, which is called PH by all the cool kids (aka Pam). In the Miracle Mile of Shops at PH, Stacy and I got yards of daiquiri from Fat Tuesdays. Neither of us finished them completely, but I was considerably more buzzed than Stacy by the end which entertained Stacy and Pam immensely. I didn't think it was so funny when I managed to lose $5 dollars within 20 minutes of playing the slot machines at the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace.

We also watched the musical fountain show at the Bellagio. It was beautiful and really cool to watch, along with the other 15,000 tourists that were on the strip. It was so ridiculous to try and walk around the sidewalk and throught the lobbies of the hotels... I was pretty over the Strip after about 30 minutes of tourists, but it was still fun to see all of the hotels & casinos.






Favorite person of the day: Jack
Favorite person of the night: PAMELA LICERALDE!
Biggest fail of the day & night: Marissa gambling.

Day Eight - May 26, 2009

Yet another day....

-9:30 am: And we're off for another very very long driving day.
-10:28 am: We made it into the Rockies and Stacy did a superb job navigating the steep mountains (6% & 7% grades)
-10:38 am: Stopped at Wildfire Restaurant in Idaho Springs, CO. Scenery was beautiful and the restaurant was mountainy and adorable.
-12:20 pm: Snow in the Rockies!
-12:50 pm: Vail Pass Summit. Elevation: 10662 ft. Waves to Vail Family!
-3:51 pm: YELLOW HUMMER! Jess I WIN!

-4:19 pm: LEAVING COLORFUL COLORADO, WELCOME TO UTAH!
NOTE: Eagles on Highway (freeway signs let you know that it could be serious)

-5:00 pm: Passed Crescent Junction. For those not familiar with the story, when my family and I drove from CA to the beautiful Mitten State we also took the same route through Nevada and Utah. We were getting towards the Utah/Colorado border and it was getting late. My dad, who meant well, thought Crescent Junction would be a wonderful place to stop. So we move along pretty exhausted but knowing we are very close to our stop. The one problem was the only thing in Crescent Junction was a gas station... and it was the only gas station and "town" for the next... oh... 50 miles. Anyway the point of the story is my mom and I have not let my dad forget about this awful experience and to let you know it is still not a good idea to stop in Crescent Junction. It has not grown. At all.

-5:30 pm: Stop in Green River for gas and watched the lightning storms across the desert in Utah up in the mountains.
-7:21 pm: Passed Chuck Wagon Restaurant (Ryan is it you or Todd that is responsible?)
-7:30 pm: Stop in Richfield, Utah for a gourmet meal from Taco Bell/KFC. During dinner we made the wise decision to stop outside of St. George rather than go on to Vegas. We had no idea how smart we were until it started to get super dark very quickly because we were in the middle of nowhere. 75 mph on winding highways, through the mountains, in the dark, with blinding headlights of opposing traffic, not so easy and not so much fun.

Around 10pm we started to get close so we called Stacy's friend Scott to let him know that we were close and that we would need directions. So it was awesome when we called and he informed us to get off at exit 27 except that we were already at exit 23. But he told us not to worry because we were coming up to exit 16 and we could still get to his house from there. This whole time we couldn't figure out why he wouldn't just give us his address so we could mapquest it, but he said he would meet us and help us to his house. HA it was so not that easy. Scott's directions went like this: "Take a right at the chevron on the corner on to 500west and then keep a look out for 100west and I will meet you there."

Well between Hurricane, UT (where we are) and Virgin, UT (where we want to be) there are about 6 chevrons on corners, one of which was on 700west. So when we saw 700west we thought the next street would be 500west... wrong. Also, let's keep in mind that Scott actually lives in the boondocks, aka doesn't actually get cell service in his neighborhood. Getting help on the directions was yet another obstacle since he tried leaving his house to meet us... meanwhile we were lost somewhere not even close to where his house was.

Finally, Scott came to the realization that we weren't going to show up, and went back to the house to call us. He was great about our getting lost slash confused for the 4th time in about 10 minutes, and we finally decided it would be best for him to just stay on the phone as long as possible... then give us the final few turns. This actually worked out, and we were able to navigate mid-way to the wilderness to his place of residence! yayyyyyy!

During our lovely stay on the phone, we found out why it was that Scott couldn't just provide us his address. From his explanation what we got was that... it's something to do with the Mormon tabernacle and where it's geographically located, and where you're located in relation to it... so his address is something to the effect of 247 west 153 south, when in reality he lives on 100 west, and neither of the aforementioned streets are near his house at all.... (if you don't get it, you're not alone... neither do we really...)

Hooray for finishing the last long day of our journey! But don't you worry there is still more to come...

Day Seven - May 25, 2009

Sorry these next few are so delayed (sorry Mom) but easy (& free) internet is hard to come by when you're on the road. But here we go...

Early start today because we knew that we were going to have to drive a LOOOOOONG way to get to Denver from St. Louis.

-6:41 am: Making moves early in the morning!! Made a pit stop for McD's, which included a little detour through the hizood...
-8:33 am: Passed Jefferson City aka the Missouri capital (you're welcome for the mini-geography lesson)

Side note: Who knew Missouri highways were not numbered but lettered? Getting directions that include the J or HH are not uncommon...

-8:46 am: Helloooooooooooooooooooo Kent! As we pass through Columbia, MO.

In case you were wondering Olean, MO is the home of the annual testicle festival...

Little known fact.... Blue Springs, MO is the home of David Cook, American Idol 2008. In honor we had a sing-a-long to "Light On"

-10:36 am: Liberty, MO.... Hi JLibz!!!!!
-10:50 am: SO LONG MISSOURI, WILKOMMEN KANSAS!
-11:46 am: California Avenue.... such a tease.
-12:30 pm: Red Robin for lunch out on the patio, which was nice especially with the view of all the nothingness in Kansas

If you are ever looking for the first stretch of interstate opened in the U.S.A., you can find it in Kansas. We know. We drove on it.

Also in Kansas, Abilene specifically, is the home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. What up Ike!

-3:00 pm: Experienced a little bit of non-flatness in Kansas. A GI-NORMOUS windmill farm, probably big enough to power all that is in Kansas.

Somewhere about 3pm MRSA (aka Marissa) fell asleep, so I (Stacy) had to take note, drive, sing, and generally keep Dot company. You're welcome Marissa.

- 3:30 pm: Deer in the Road!!! I had to drive on the shoulder to go around this deer. I thought it was dead, but then it raised it's head! YAY!

- 3:42 pm: Another hometown... Bob Dole is from Russell, Kansas. Each of these cities feels the need to announce these things to the 6 people that pass on the highway each day.... (and we have passed them along for your learning pleasure, and because there was nothing really else to talk about)

- 4:30 pm: We stopped in Hays for coffee and to use the potty. Marissa took over behind the wheel

- 6:00 pm: TORNADO WATCH!!!!!! ... ominous clouds... looking out for any funnels! Megan's texts, not very reassuring... ("I just looked it up and it says May has historically the most tornadoes"... and... "it says Oakley has 15% greater amount of tornadoes than overall US. It also says it has 3 registered sex offenders"... to which Marissa replied "Thanks Megan. I hope I don't get raped in the middle of a tornado." ... and Meg said "hahaha that would be the worst case scenario" ...hahahaha ohhhh goodness.)

-6:02 pm: Marissa - "That is DEFINITELY tornado weather. Not to freak you out or anything. Let's get out of here immediately." Another reassuring comment from friends. Thanks guys.

- 6:04 pm: Enter darkness of storm clouds. Marissa - "Maybe I should call my mom and tell her I love her." I'm sorry, what? all in fun, but it was actually somewhat frightening... I reassured Megan that if I saw a funnel of wind I'd jump in the ditch at the side of the road.

-6:15 pm: EXTREME RAIN. (again.)

-6:31 pm: Entering Mountain Time Zone... clock goes back an hour again! we keep gaining time!

- 5:50 pm: Stopped for a few gallons at McBs in Goodland, KS.... For both of us this was our first experience with a full-service station... we weren't really sure what to do... we just waited in Dot for a while... the guy finally came out, and turns out they were closed. Dude helped us anyway, but then left the gas cap off. FAIL.

- 6:00 pm: Stopped to fill up for real this time. YAY self-serve!

- 6:22 pm: SEE YA KANSAS (wouldn't wanna be ya!) Welcome to "Colorful Colorado" :)

- soooooo for the first....long time... in CO I forgot we actually made it to Colorado... aka it looks JUST like Kansas.... zzzzzzzzzzz.

- 6:55 pm: Dot turned up her own radio... Creepy!

- 8:02 pm: Stretch break. It's cold out! (this was a new experience... usually we're peeling our sweaty clothes off the back of our legs and back... gross I know.)

- 8:55 pm: Enter Aurora... pronounced by me ArrrrrArrrrAh. Did I mention how it's pouring down rain!? AGAIN. TERRIBLE LIFE... the freeway somewhere you've never been when you can't see the lane lines... noooooo good.

- 8:58 pm: Passed Alameda Street. Are we back in LA already?

- 9:02 pm: Passed Gander Mtn (it's a store of some kind I think) HI POPS!!!!!

- 9:04 pm: I spy Denver's Metro System

- 9:09 pm: Enter Greenwood village limit (Almost there!!)

- 9:14 pm: Arrival at Sleep Inn!!!! WHEWWWWWWWW!

OH BUT WAIT.... the day is not over yet.... Marissa needs to take over to recount the rest of our evening... Get ready.


So after checking in we decide to go get food... oh Grand Slam Sports Cafe sounds good - WRONG! We walked in expecting to sit down and have a nice quick dinner before going to sleep but we were (rudely!) informed that the kitchen was closed. But no worries because there was an Arbys right down the road. Oh wait.... only the drive-thru is open but remember when we were driving a large Budget truck. Arbys "strongly advises large trucks not to use drive-thru due to sharp curve." Since we weren't trying to get stuck at Arbys we were on the search for something, anything, else to eat. WENDYS! Across the street! So after the biggest "neighborhood" turn around ever, we make it to Wendys. Crossing our fingers that we can make it through the drive-thru and that it is open... SUCCESS! After getting our food, and laughing hysterically due to fatigue and the ridiculousness of the situation, we returned to eat and crashhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Biggest fail of the day: Forgot Louie in St. Louis :(

Day Six - May 24, 2009

Day six... wow!

We spent the day in Saint Louis.

soooo tired last night (but made it through the end of the bball game - Go Lakes!), but sound sleep proved somewhat elusive.
8 am : woke up to the sounds of barking dogs and the boys running around the house
8-9 am : woke up 4+ more times from the variety of chaos around the house
12 pm: actually woke up and got out of bed after finally falling asleep around 9 am

1:30(ish) pm: after a throwback breakfast of trix and flavored oatmeal, it was off to see the city!
We made our way to the arch (that's the Jefferson National Expansion Monument to be precise), and on the way saw Busch Stadium (the Card's stadium), and Edward Jones Dome (where the Rams "play")...

The Arch is SO AWESOME! it is GRANNNNN-DE! so beautiful and generally great. And as we learned, it represents "the gateway to the west" (there you go, learning again!)

3:16 pm: purchased our new mascot!!! His name is Louie, and he is a black bear. Be sure to keep an eye out for him in future photos :)
3:17 pm: got our official national monument stamp (I got one for my passport mom! - and a pin)




a note from Stacy: -----------------------------------
We went up to the top of the arch, which okay let's be honest I was pretty nervous since it's definitely really high!, but it got worse once we watched this video on the construction of the arch. The video was mostly a time-killer, but it was pretty great. By great, I mean it had to have been the original video from 1962, and was complete with dramatic music... and generally made me even more hesitant to go up in the arch at all.

So to go up in the arch you sit in this little "pod" with 4 other people. When I say little, I mean little. For those of us who are somewhat claustrophobic, this is a terrible situation. To go along with this (you have to ride in it for four minutes to the top,) and it does these sudden tilts and jerks the whole way. I get that it's an arch so you have to follow the shape, but let's just say it wasn't my favorite part of the arch. I kept clinging to the wall every time it would jerk... entertaining for everyone else, not so much entertaining for me. haha.
-------------------------------------------------------
:The view at the top is awesome!:


The arch was really crowded, so we didn't have time to go to the brewery like we had planned, but we got dropped off in the Central West End, where there are just some little boutiques and a bunch of bars and restaurants (food- the important stuff!)

6:45 pm: we ate at Bar Louies - some awesome things called "Loaded Fries" and split a California Chicken Club
9:50 pm (ish): got a cab home... oh my goodness. Our driver on the road seemed nice at first (and spoke English- bonus!) but then he just KEPT TALKING... according to Marissa, "he was actually crazy -- certifiably crazy."
10:26 pm: back at the house. blog time then bed....

Favorite person(s) of the day: the ticket taker at the "Dream of the Arch" documentary film, who told us he was "Living the dream." You go dude, you go.
The server-in-training at the restaurant. Brandon. He actually helped us, and was entertaining and generally awesome when our server (see below) was 0 percent helpful.

Least favorite person of the day: Lindsay. She was the young lady who was supposedly our server (when we returned to Louie's for a soda), but who didn't actually do anything... GO BRANDON! haha.
The cab driver takes a close second here. He was entertaining for about 2 minutes, but by the end we were REALLY glad we didn't live further (Nazi talk generally makes things get awkward).

LOOOONNNGGG DAY coming up tomorrow. Should be filled with awesomeness to share! (Kansas? - uhhhhhh, maybe not.) We shall see. More to follow soon!!

Day Five - May 23, 2009

Hellloooooo! In the morning we spent some time hanging out with Aunt Jackie. We were hoping to get $1 flip flops at Old Navy, but apparently so was the rest of Southwest Michigan. Regardless, we had a swell time hanging out with Marissa's family.

-1:40 pm: Depart for Saint Louis! But first we had to make a fuel stop.

After starting out on the freeway we both realized that we were both in need of a caffeine fix so we made a pit-stop at Starbucks. So by 2:15 pm, we were officially on our way out of Kalamazoo.

-3:20 pm: Goodbye Mitten State, Hello Indiana!!!!

So far it has been mostly empty fields.... so many it's hard to tell where one ends another begins.

Apparently, you can by 1 get 6 free at Krazy Kaplan's fireworks since there were at least 25 billboards within a 15 mile stretch of the highway.

- 4:24 pm ---> 3:24 pm TIME CHANGE!
-3:34 pm: Switch to I-55 S towards St. Louis. This is marked by the only traffic we have been in the whole way and luckily it only lasted about 10 minutes:

-3:41 pm: BILLIE JEAN! We had a Michael Jackson sing-a-long, complete with Stacy's improv sounds. hahaha.

We officially entered farm country, which we knew immediately by the smell of cow manure. This is also the moment we switched from the vent to A/C.... to avoid the smell. hahaha.

-4:44 pm: Stop! First break of the day for the bathroom and a stretch.
6 piece McNuggets ordered to share.
Change expected = 11 cents
Change received = 6 cents
Apparently basic math is not a requirement for a job at McDonalds, but it wasn't worth stressing over so we let it fly. After getting our shared meal we realized we forgot sauce so Marissa went back and after waiting through a 5 minute expletive-filled rant by the manager in the back an employee finally came to help us out, kind of. He was a little confused when Marissa asked for BBQ and sweet & sour, but was finally able to figure it out. After confirming with each other that we actually just experienced that, we agreed that what else could you expect from from the Middle of Nowhere Hicksville, IL. All in all, it was still one more entertainment for the road haha.

-5:05 pm: And we're off again! But not for long because about a half hour later the sky decided to open up on us. We had to get off the highway because we couldn't see in front of us through the rain and because our windshield wipers were not the greatest. We followed along a side road that followed the freeway. The side road led to Route 66, which had some gas stations so we decided to stop and wait the storm out. It was an awesome lightning storm.... to watch but not to drive through.

-6:00 pm: Braving the rain to make it to Springfield. The rain had let up some by this point and after a genius suggestion from Papa Geiss to wipe clean the windshield wipers (so simple and yet neither of us would have thought of it), we decided to get back onto I-55 S to continue on towards St. Louis. This was a smart choice because at 6:11 pm, with the storm headed in the opposite direction, we saw our last raindrop.... for now.

-6:42 pm: Yet another stop... this time for gas & SONIC Drive-In!!!! We tried the Sonic Blast and a Strawberry Limeade (thumbs up from Stacy,) but no slushees (Sorry Rooms... I was looking for a sour one!)
-7:34 pm: Headed to St. Louis, hopefully no more stops...
-8:45 pm: passed MARYVILLE!! Hi Madre Fountain!
-8:56 pm: Adios Illinois, Bienvenue Missouri! Fun fact: Missouri state line is in the middle of the Mississippi River. Oh and the Mississippi River is super grande and beautiful at dusk. Wish we could have gotten a picture of it but no haps :(

-9:25 pm: Aunt Leigh's House!!!!


Observations and counts for the day:

Total miles traveled = 434.1 miles
Stacy Road Rages = 5
Empty fields = infinite
Favorite people of the day: The two elderly motorcycle couples, including one motorcycle tricked out with rope lights.
Local grocery store = Schnucks. (yes that is really the name... we couldn't have made that up if we tried.)
Amount of fun we are having = Immeasurable!!!!

More to come tomorrow from our adventures in St. Louis!

Day Four - May 22, 2009

Another awesome day in Kalamazoo! Got to sleep in a little bit today, on accident, but it was still fantastic.

Once we actually awoke for the day, we went to go see Grandma Fountain & Aunt Jackie. They were at a garage sale next door, which no joke had a full set of Cadillac rims for sale. That was a first in my life. The rest of the day was spent mostly running errands with Aunt Jackie and Madre Fountain. After watching some of the Red Wings game (complete with some athletic training action), we had a nice family dinner with Grandma & Aunt Jackie and then had another early night to bed.

It was nice to have a relaxing day, since tomorrow will be very long and I'm sure very eventful and entertaining! (Starting with the $1 flip-flop sale at Old Navy!)