The first leg of the journey included a stop in Oxford, Mississippi to visit Alex-Anna, one of CMF's past co-ops. We were greeted with warm smiles, swarms of sorority girls, and some bodacious Southern BBQ. A note on those sorority girls: they were virtually all wearing athletic shoes, Nike shorts, and oversized t-shirts. What is the deal with that? Anyway, AA treated us the with the true Southern hospitality that I'm sure we will miss in San Francisco.
I was introduced to a new road tradition by Nathan, our team's tour manager. Apparently every time he stops at a gas station during tour road trips, he does push ups. Check out his form!
The first night ended relatively calmly in Russelville, Arkansas at a Quality Inn.
The second day was a sensory overload. First, I started the morning off by driving the big box truck for the first time. I was nervous, but I think I managed to get the hang of it pretty well (we made it to San Francisco, didn't we?).
We stopped off for lunch at Mama E's Wings and Waffles in Oklahoma City, OK, which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Even though I've lived in the South all my life, I have never tried chicken and waffles. Needless to say, I was really excited to get the chance to chow down on this Southern staple. I was not disappointed. Both the chicken and waffles were topped with powdered sugar, just adding to the sweet joy of the experience.
After lunch, we headed to Amarillo, TX to check out Cadillac Ranch, a sculpture garden right next to the highway. This site is one of the coolest roadside attractions I've seen. Several old Cadillacs are buried nose-first in the ground and completely covered in graffiti. People are encouraged to bring their own spray paint and leave their mark.
We ended the second day in Albuquerque, NM.
The third day, we headed out of Albuquerque after a stop at Whole Foods, which was full of green chiles. We stopped at the Hoover Dam on the border of Arizona and Nevada, a truly beautiful sight. I can't imagine the man power it must have required to build such a huge structure!
After we were done soaking in the site's grandiosity, we drove the short distance to Las Vegas for a night on the town. Nate hooked us up with a room in the Monte Carlo on the Las Vegas Strip, where we promptly changed into our fancy clothes and headed out to the city. Nate and Nishant, our team's promotions manager, were daring enough to gamble in the Bellagio, indubitably one of the nicest and most expensive resorts in Las Vegas.
I played a few hands of blackjack at the Monte Carlo, but I was very wary the whole time. One of my highlights of Vegas was finding these guys to hang out with:
Surprisingly, we all made it to bed by 2 am - not too shabby!
The fourth day ended up being the longest day, hands down. We stopped off at a gas station earlier during the drive to shoot a CMF short featuring me... Stay tuned =)
Things really started getting stressful once we got into California. Our path took us through endless curvy and bumpy roads with barely any signs for gas, food, or lodging for miles. At one point, the box truck only had a quarter tank of fuel to make it through the next 60 miles or so. Fortunately, we all made it to the next gas station in one piece.
After filling up on gas, our next move was to drive through Yosemite National Park. Easy, breezy, and beautiful, right? Wrong. Well, I will concede that the surroundings were absolutely magnificent. Unfortunately, none of us could appreciate the natural beauty all around us because we were so stressed out about getting our box truck out of the treacherous mountain path. We ended up reaching 9,000 feet with both the box truck and the CMF minivan. On the way down the mountain, Caroline, our team's co-op, and Nishant waved down me and Nate in the box truck because our brake pads were smoking up a storm. When we stopped the truck, smoke just poured out of the hood.
At this point, we were all a little concerned. According to the GPS, we still had a good 50 miles to go before we go out of the mountains. We let the truck cool down, and everyone took a breather. After waiting 20 minutes or so, the guys took over the truck while Caroline and I followed behind in the van, checking to make sure we didn't see any more smoke. Luck must have followed us from Vegas, because both vehicles and everyone involved made it down the mountain. I think it goes without saying that we will never be attempting that drive again - once was enough =)
Finally, at midnight on Tuesday morning, we made our way across a beautifully lit up bridge and found ourselves in San Francisco. It took four long, seemingly never-ending days, but we did it! I think we're all excited to settle in for a bit.
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