the chilly travels

I'm trying to defrost my frozen fingers with this hot cup of coffee as I sit in a cabin in Northern Minnesota. When I woke up this morning the first thing I saw was a heavenly blue sky overhead and, like every day of this trip, I felt so happy, so lucky, so ready for the day and so in need of a cup of jo.

To rewind some, Pete last posted while we were in Vermont. I freaking LOVE that state. I will live there one day. Vermont is goooorgeous and I want to frolic through the streets of its adorable towns after bathing in maple syrup. Camping there was a dream and a wonderful segue into My First Trip to Canada!



After Pete confused the border lady immensely by informing her that we were carrying a pack saw with us, we crossed into the giant lands of our friendly neighbors and drove some number of kilometers to Montreal. It's so European and beautiful and touristy. We just spent an afternoon wandering around the downtown area, checking out the Parque Olimpique (heavenly!) and stopping for a mini-goblet of Canadian beer. Then off we sped some other number of kilometers to the capital of the second-largest country in the world: Ottawa. A very groovy town and where one of Pete's cousins (Andy) lives. Ottawa is fantastic and I will share two very groovy parts of that visit:

1. Poutine is a staple dish in parts of Canada and it is AMAZING. French Fries, cheese curds, gravy and bacon bits. Goodness gracious I could have eaten five plates of it.
2. Ottawa is the home to the largest continuous ice skating rink in the world! The canal that runs through the beautiful town freezes over in the winter and lots of Ottawanians (I made that word up) actually ice skate to work or class. (!!!!).

Then we met up with Pete's other family members in Toronto/Oakville, which is a town right outside the city. Hilary, one of the cousins, works at the Canadian Broadcasting Channel and gave us a tour of the building downtown. As you can see, Pete was a natural in the weather broadcasting room and is probably going to change his career. And start wearing hair mousse because I think that's mandatory.



We departed from Oakville early in the AM to make it out of the country and back to the US and A to visit my beloved Jakki Kelley in Ann Arbor. Highlight of this trip:

A. Jakki is still a sweet angel and seeing her face makes me piddle with delight.
dos: The Law School at U of Michigan looks exactly like Hogwarts!
See: We drank beers at a local brew pub and got to taste brews of the strangest, most unpronounceable names (Ziebersteffenweizermiechliotchin and things of that nature).



We dipped out of Jakki's pretty town to see Chicago. And let me tell you, I am in LOVE. That city is so beautiful and groovy and the architecture is astounding and it's just so huge and full of life and activity. LOVED IT. To make things all the better first thing we did upon arriving was go have a delish dinner with my auntie Marilyn and my cousin, who had surprised me by flying in to visit while I was there! Oh em gee, I know, my family is awesome. So that night we stayed with Pete's college buddy Jenn Rice and pretty much took over Southport area. I won't share on the interwebs how Pete started dancing on one of the benches, got scolded by the DJ, then flanked by the two miserable bouncers who tried to immediately kick him out. I'm not certain, but I'm thinking it was when I turned to one of them and pleadingly said, "But he's a really GOOD guy! I promise!" that they decided he could stay and walked off.

Then next day Pete left for a friend's wedding and I got to hop on my bike and explore Chicago. I happened upon a Latin Music festival going on in Millennium Park and grooved to some tunes in that amazing amphitheater before I hopped on a train to Crystal Lake. My aunt (she lives in Crystal Lake), cousin and I spent all that night being girly and goofy and watching Vampire Diaries and it was sheer heaven. Maddy's brand new teacup Yorkie only made the situation more perfect.

The next day was RIDIKALOUS. Pete and Lacy scooped me (ah yes, meanwhile Lacy had flown into Chicago!) and we headed to Madison, WI where we met up with Dusan and Meg, scooped Willie--Pete's awesome brother--and proceeded to have the most incredible Wisconsonian lunch at a place called Old Fashioned. Sweet Jebus, the fried cheese curds we ate for an appetizer just about made me tinkle in my seat. Everything was from Wisconsin, the beers, the meat, the cheese, the deliciousness. Good heavens.



So then BACK TO THE CAR! because we had to scoot off to Roseville, Minnesota to get to Pete's parents' for dinner! We got there all in a frenzy after that four hour drive to a warm, sweet family greeting and it was heaven. We ate yet another delish meal and Mama Morrison blew all of our minds with her key lime pie. I'm fairly certain there was an addictive secret ingredient she put in there because I wanted to take a nap in that pie.

But no rest for the weary because we jumped back into the cars and drove another 3 or 4 hours to the family cabin on the lake! And so begins the tale of our Adventures into the Boundary Waters. But you'll have to wait for it. I need more coffee.

"How the hell did we get here?"

The title of this blog post, the first by yours truly, Petey-Mo, is what Eva asked me 2 nights ago while we sat on a boulder in the middle of a river, which ran through the Green Mountains of Central Vermont.  The leaves are beginning to change and the air is crisp. Hoodies and winter hats are mandatory. So, how the hell did we get up here? The last time you heard from us we were in VA, and I was probably sleeping off that night of Wild Turkey with Eva's step-dad.  This morning, we are in a small town near the Canadian border called...I don't actually know what it's called.  But what does it matter, anyhow. We pulled into a small cafe for some coffee, eggs, toast, toilet and sink. The essentials after 2 nights of camping in Virginia's Green Mountains.

After Eva's last post, we decided to stay in Fredericksburg an extra night to spend some time with Eva's sister, Maggie, and brother-in-law, Marty.  Aside from the good convo and Maggie's story about the hog who ate a farmer, the most blog-appropriate, notable thing from this night was happy hour at the Otter House. If ever you find yourself in this antique-filled town, be sure to stop in for some FREE buffalo wings (unlimited!) and $1.50 drafts.  I don't think we'll find a better deal in all of the Union.

Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia

Heading out of the Burg, we decided to go west into the the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shanendoah National Park rather than heading up the interstate (duh!) to D.C.  Skyline drive, whoa you guys, that sh** is increible (that's Spanish for incredible for all you monolingual folk).  A single lane highway winding through thick coniferous forests, then opening up to an overlook at elevations reaching over 3,250 ft. 

Out of the mountains and into D.C.  My first time in our nation's capitol. D.C. is one of the many times on this trip that Eva and I have been super thankful for our bikes. While driving in this city was hell, biking was money. We rode around the Mall, stopping at the famous monuments and memorials; Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Korean War Memorial, lunch under the shade of the Washington Monument and B-sesh in front of the Capitol grounds. The highlight was when Barack called up my celly and invited us for a beer. We had to decline though because we were too busy.

Philadelphia. I regret to inform you that we took the interstate from D.C. to Philly. GASP! I know. I'm sorry. F the interstate.

Eva, Yendi, Winston - chillin' at the dog park

We stayed with my friends Winston and Yendi in an old factory-turned-sick-ass-studio-apartment in Philly. They were in a really nice neighborhood between Downtown and North Philly so we spent our two nights there just hanging in their hood and lounging in their comfy apt.  Our time in Philly was filled with great conversation, lots of laughs, some local brews, live hip-hop (both from the apartment (Wi.Sh(ful) Music and a concert), and lots of good food.

Look at this place!

Eva, Yendi, Winston and Rose picking some PA microbrews

Damn, this post is getting long!!! Sorry y'all. I'll hurry up and wrap this up with a few last words and some photos.

"How the hell did we get here?"

Vermont's, Green Mountains were a complete surprise to me.  Some of the best stops so far have been totally off my radar: Outer Banks, Charleston, Vermont...  Our second night we did some "Stealth camping" on the banks of Lake Chaplain, a glacial lake dividing NY and VT. Adirondacks on the NY side and rolling hills in VT. Hank the Marine from the Outer banks would be proud! We found our best spot yet by simply trespassing! Who woulda thunk it.

Our stealth campsite. VT shoreline and NY Adirondacks across the lake

That's it for now. I'll leave you with some advice. Get in your car and leave whatever city you're living in. Get an atlas (thanks, SoulJAH Ghana) and go explore. This country will blow your mind!

Much love everyone. Now we're headed north to Canada. Did you hear how that country picked its name? The old president was pulling letters out of a hat and is wife was recording...he said, "C, eh. N, eh. D, eh."

 

in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Howdy all! We've been in the lovely town of Fredericksburg since Sunday night.

But before I go on to all the incredible details since my last blog entry, let's go back in time just a bit further to Friday night, August 27th. We were having a standardly awesome Frisbee Sesh in the street and that dude popped out of the sun roof of a car, snagged the frisbee, and TOOK OFF! Do y'all remember this??? It was outrageous! I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all piddled ourselves with distress and anger and hurt--so much hurt--until the dude came back around the corner many minutes later and said, "You didn't really think I'd steal a frisbee, did you?!" And people laughed and cheered merrily. But I didn't. I still think that dude is a d-bag. He made me piddle myself with distress and anger and hurt. Ridiculous.

Anyways, I'm glad we talked about that. I feel better.

So last week I teased all of you with the Evil Raccoon That Tried To Kill story intro. Allow me to elaborate: while camping in Alabama Pete and I were confronted with an evil raccoon that tried to kill us/eat all of our food/possibly steal our souls. Pete, fortunately, is the craftiest of manly mans and whittled a weapon to protect us from this giant (I'm not kidding--GIANT) demonic critter. After the raccoon climbed on our picnic table a mere four feet from where we was chillin, Pete jumped into action. Using the handle of a spoon, eight raisins from our trail mix, the Style section of the New York Times and a hockey action figure he happened to have close by, Pete made the weapon an protected us from raccoon-harm. That, and he started wildly throwing pea pebbles in all directions until the critter scurried off. A hero? Pete won't let you call him that to his face, but let's just say Enrique wrote that song after he met a certain Minnesotan we all know and love...

So, after camping there we had a wild 20 hours in Atlanta with Stephen Crabbe, Pete's rather fantastic college buddy. We ate pizza, drank beer and I schooled both of them in darts. We were trying to be as American as possible. Also, we had BBQ for lunch the next day. Crabbe lives in this super sweet house in what's called Cabbagetown in Atlanta. Basically, there is a factory nestled into this neighborhood that smells like cabbage (carnie factory?...) and thus the title Cabbagetown. I'm not actually certain that's the story but I might have overheard someone saying something close to that. Maybe.



Then we headed off to Charleston to stay with Pete's other college buddy, Cameron Buchanan. Also fantastic. The town in gorgeous but my favorite part of the trip was when we spent a late afternoon at the beach. It's hard to say what was the most wonderful about being on the beach that day on James Island. It might have been getting to frolic on the sand and play in the water. It might have been watching the sky turn shades of blue you really only see sitting by the Atlantic ocean. Or maybe it was when Pete tried to play frisbee by himself. And did.

We camped a couple nights in North Carolina before making it to my homelands in the Commonwealth. First we stayed in the Croatan National Forest right by Emerald Isle. Camping was decent, but when we took this little path from the campsites down to the water, we sat on the beach and under these warm stars with some bourbon and it felt amazing. I saw my first shooting star! We just sat and laughed and then realized that there were people illegally fishing for oysters down the beach from us and we were totally alarmed and then we spent the rest of the evening deciding whether or not to make a Citizen's Arrest.

The next night's camping was on the beach in the Outer Banks. Pete and I had, without a doubt, the most successful and awesome B toss we've ever had. We were doing dives into the water to make catches. There was leaping and running and frolicking like never before. We watched the sunset on the sand dunes. We made friends with a Marine who was camping next to us with nothing more than a towel (we fed him a dank ass sammy and some beer). We laid on the beach and saw what was for me the most amazing, starry night sky ever.


And now here we are, in my hometown. It's been family central since we got here but tonight we'll head to Richmond to see some of my college girls and check out the capital of the Commonwealth. Naturally, the family adores Pete. The Watkins family seal of approval has definitely been given (success!). Lili won't leave his side (we babysat the littluns yesterday) and my stepdad, Marc, decided that they should stay up last night until 3am on the back deck and bond. Or maybe it was a team decision. Either way, there had been a lot more whiskey in that bottle when I went to bed last night than when I got up this morning. As in now it's drained. But if emptying a bottle of Wild Turkey can't bond two men into besties, than I just don't know what can.

Alright, off to bike around this lovely town of mine!

I miss all my Austin folk!

chillin in Charleston

Good heavens, this town is amazing! And we haven't actually seen anything because we arrived to Cameron's house at 10:30pm. But oh em gee, Cam's casa is INCREDIBLE. This place is two stories with a true Southern, Charleston-style porch on each floor. Don't even get me started on the kitchen. I'm in love.

But this blog obvi isn't about Cam's amazing house (though I'm clearly obsessed). It's about an epic journey. A journey of two souls. Two souls bonded by a life-changing mission that could alter the future of all the beings of Middle Earth. Mmm, wait. No, I'm thinking about a Hobbit Blog I was just reading. Scratch that! This is all about the 2010 Epic Road Trip of Pete and Eva (2ERTPE).

I probably won't write a novel tonight because this is our first evening of relaxation since we got on the road Saturday morning and some brownies are fixin to come out the oven. You understand. So, Saturday we made our way--albeit slowly--into the Buick after a rather activity-filled last night in Austin.  The day was perfection: Texas blue skies as we headed out with a few white clouds. We departed with a general idea of where we'd like to land that night (Louisiana? or maybe Mississippi?? meh?). We're not taking any interstates on this trip, so we drove through practically empty back roads East out of Texas and through central Louisiana.

We've been putting the B to good use and have been making stops at groovy pull-offs to throw it around and stretch our legs some. Pete is getting baller at sick flying squirrel-type catches and I'm getting close to being able to jump more than an inch off the ground to catch the frisbee. We pulled off to make dank-ass sammies at a sweet little park somewhere in Louisiana the first day. We heard gunshots from across the highway and I was decently certain that we were being hunted in one of those sick human-hunting games but Pete ascertained that it was just a shooting range across the way. Luckily we survived.

We ended up in the delightful little town of Jonesville at the refined local motel known as the Motel. Dug it: King-sized bed. Mini-fridge. Microwave. Very unique, multi-colored floral bedspread with strange toilet-paper-like bottom layer. I mean this place was the bomb. No, it really was. Henry--the kind fella who worked the Motel--told us of a look out spot wheres you can just sit back and enjoy- or something like that. We drove up thataway the next morning and ate some yogurt with granola and bananas (hippies!) then set off.

Sunday was an AMAZING drive. We drove northeast up through Mississippi on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which just winds up through this incredibly green, pristine national park. If ever you're making a drive though Mississippi, take this route. It was ridiculous.

Once we'd made our way into Alabama (our plan was to arrive to Atlanta Sunday night and stay there) we realized that it was dark and we were still hours from Georgia. So after sniffing out a national forest in northern Alabama--the William B. Bankhead National Forest--we decided to just stay there for the night and camp. But then there was the issue of finding an ENTRANCE to the forest to camp. This was tricky. But Pete and I have some pretty sweet Trip Mojo going on and of course we found a spot RIGHT on Smith Lake where practically no one else was camping. And here begins the story of the Incredibly Ballsy Racoon that Tried to Eat our Campsite. But I'm sleepy and the brownies are done. So the story will have to wait.

Buenas noches, everybody! Tomorrow I get to wake up in Charleston, SC, ride bikes all over town and frolic on the beach with Pete and Cam. Standard.

-Eva Jane

PS I guess this was a novel, eh?