We drove through the entire state of Virginia and arrived to Arlington. We instantly went to it's famous cemetery and saw JFK's grave and the tomb of the unknown soldier. The cemetery was massive and very touching to visit. Then we drove into DC and walked up and down the mall countless times. We saw nearly all the memorials (Washington, Lincoln, WW II, Korean War, Vietnam . . .) and the White House. The next couple days we visited many of the Smithsonian museums of the area. We saw the Botanical Gardens, the Air and Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Asheville, we tried going to the Biltmore Mansion (largest home in America) but it was $47 per person. No thanks. Instead, we opted to hike for free in the nearby Great Smoky Mountains. The views were hazy but the air felt fresh and it was nice to get outdoors again. We re-entered Tennessee and the first thing we saw was Dollywood. The whole area was one ridiculous theme park complete with mini golf, water slides and the likes. This stretched on for miles. An hour later we got a flat tire and stopped in Kingsport to fix it. Long [View Full Entry]

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We left Savannah and hit a major thunderstorm on our way to Charleston, SC. This was the most severe weather we have encountered so far on the trip. At one point a bolt of lightning struck a tree 20 feet from the car and sounded like a bomb explosion. A large, smoking portion of the tree was flung into the air. When we finally arrived to Charleston we stayed at a really cool hostel downtown. We made friends with a great Aussie named Ellie and took a day trip out to Boone Hall, a large plantation. Countless movies have been filmed [View Full Entry]

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Georgia was great. First we went to Valdosta to visit my cousin Dylan. He showed us a great time and cooked us an amazing meal. Then we went to Brunswick to meet back up with the Kennedy's (this is the couple we met in Vegas at the beginning of our journey). They invited us to stay with them in their beautiful home and took us out to a great seafood restaurant for dinner. From Brunswick we drove to Savannah and spent the afternoon walking around river street and downtown. The pictures probably give a better description of what we did. Georgia, [View Full Entry]

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From Nah lens we drove through Mobile Alabama, Pensacola FL, Fort Walton Beach FL, Destin FL and Panama City FL. The beaches here are so beautiful. The sand looks like sugar and the water looks like blue Otterpops (remember those?). We spent Paggi's 25th birthday camping at Grayton Beach. It was beautiful but very hot with large bugs and alligator warnings. And because of the hurricane that swept through the gulf a few days before, there were tons of jellyfish in the water. We both got stung. Paggi was in the water way longer than I was so he got stung [View Full Entry]

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We left Hot Springs and drove all day through forests, farmland and swamps and finally arrived in New Orleans at midnight. The next day we walked around the French Quarter, sampling the local food and drinks. In the evening we ate fried alligator and went to the Spotted Cat to hear some great live music. The next morning we woke to the smell of 400,000 gallons of oil in the Mississippi river. Our room was about 100 yards from the river and we felt woozy all day. The river is now closed from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico and [View Full Entry]

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We just spent about 6 days with my (Ashley) dad, Nancy (step-mom) and Hunter (half-brother) in Arkansas. It was a great time. We got to go boating, swimming, tubing and fishing on Bull Shoals Lake. The lake was about 40-50 feet above it's normal water level, kind of a shock since California is on the verge of a drought. Staying in Mountain Home was a great way to pause our trip for a little while and relax. We ate great food like Amber Jack fish, Deer burgers, and BBQ chicken. On Sunday we all drove down to Hot Springs National Park [View Full Entry]

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We drove from St. Louis to Nashville. The weather was the wildest we have seen so far. Lightening, wind and thunder surrounded our car. We drove through 4 states this day...Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. Nashville was great. Country music EVERYWHERE! We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and saw numerous musical groups perform downtown. We also took a tour of RCA's Studio B. This is where almost all of the country greats recorded records between 1956 and 1978. Overall, Nashville has been one of the top cities we have traveled through so far. Memphis was less appealing and [View Full Entry]

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The drive from Colorado through Kansas to St. Louis Missouri was better than we expected...a bit boring, but not as boring as driving down I-5 in California. Kansas was very green and the corn fields are actually quite beautiful. We made a little stop in Topeka, KS at a the Brown Vs. The Board of Education historic site. It was very interesting and sort of gave us a feel for what the south felt like in the time of segregation. From Topeka we drove to Kansas City and went to a Jazz museum. And then continued on to Columbia Missouri. This [View Full Entry]

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Colorado was great. I (Ashley) got to visit with my half sisters, nieces and nephew and see all of the sights that I loved when I was little. We stayed in Colorado Springs for two nights with Liz and in Denver with Amy for two nights. Liz took us to the top of Pikes Peak, to Cascade, to Manitoe Springs, Green Mountain Falls, and to Garden of the Gods (all in one day!). At Amy's we went to my niece, Angelica's, baseball game and into down town Denver for lunch. [View Full Entry]

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