More pictures

I posted a bunch of pictures from each day of the trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/joshuadouglas. Enjoy!

Fish (and frog) tales

Many of you know that in addition to our cats, we also have a fish and a frog. Each has their own two-gallon tank. Well, we decided to take them with us on the trip. We put them in small tupperware containers and hoped that they would live for a week. Each night we brought them inside the hotel rooms, hoping to keep their water temperatures somewhat steady. We also made sure that their lids were sealed so the kitties (Marcel in particular) would not eat them!

I am happy to report that both survived the trip and are happily swimming in their previous tanks. We have amazing pets!

We're here!

This is just a quick post to let you all know that we made it to San Antonio safely. We travelled exactly 1,911 miles! Everything is moved into the house, so we are now in the process of setting up furniture and unpacking. We really like our place, which is great because we did not remember exactly what it looked like! The landlord did a lot to spruce it up, even painting each of the rooms a different color. Our neighbors seem really nice and welcoming. They even had their nephew and his friends help unload the truck when our movers did not arrive!

More details and pictures later. I just wanted everyone to know that we are here.

A Boy from a Place Called Hope/Rangers Game

I will post pictures from today's activities sometime later this week. Here is just a quick update on what we saw today:

We left Little Rock and stopped in Hope, Arkansas, where Bill Clinton lived until he was 7. This was a very small, sleepy town, and it was fun to see his boyhood home and first elementary school. We learned a very interesting fact: former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is running for the Republican Presidential nomination, is also from Hope. So if he somehow wins, two of our Presidents will have come from this small town called Hope!

Our next stop was in Texarkana. This city is right on the border of Arkansas and Texas (there is a Texarkana, AR, and a Texarkana, TX). The interesting part is that there is a road called "State Line Boulevard." To one side of the double yellow lines is Arkansas, and to the other side is Texas. Each side even has the respective state flags along the side of the road so you know which state you are in. If you make a left turn, you are in a different state!

We made our way to Arlington, TX and checked into our hotel, which is right across the street from Six Flags. They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and this is certainly true of the Six Flags. It is huge!

Tonight we went to the A's-Rangers game at The Ballpark in Arlington. The score went back and forth, and the Rangers won 8-6. The ballpark is ok--not my favorite, but it was still fun to see a different park. The highlight is the statue of Nolan Ryan in center field.

Tomorrow will mark our last day of the journey as we head to San Antonio, which is about five hours away. The truck with our stuff arrived early and will be dropped off Wednesday afternoon. That is great news as it means we will have a bed to sleep in tomorrow night!

I may not post again until later this week, as we will be dealing with moving in and all (and will not have internet at our new place until at least Thursday night). But I will try to post more pictures soon.

"The Natural State"

We stopped at the Arkansas Welcome Center on our way to Little Rock. Arkansas's nickname is "The Natural State" because of the state's abundant natural resources, including many lakes and rivers. Additionally, apparently Arkansas could sustain itself without any other state's assistance, as it grows almost every crop (besides citrus). The workers at the Welcome Center were quite welcoming, knowledgeable, and helpful.

After checking into a hotel, we went to downtown Little Rock. Downtown has a nice area called the "River Market District" with shops and restaurants. The area was fairly quiet, with few people walking around (then again, it was Monday and over 100 degrees). After exploring the area we went to the Clinton Presidential Library.

This was really interesting--the Library/museum has great exhibits on President Clinton's early life and a complete timeline of his eight years in the White House. The museum also has exact replicas of the Cabinet Room and the Oval Office. Seeing these rooms was neat, especially because we had seen the real ones when I interned at the White House. Other highlights included seeing some letters and gifts that the President and Hillary received from celebrities and ordinary Americans.

The museum also has the President's daily schedule from every day of his presidency. It was fun to look up September 17, 2000, when I traveled to Philadelphia to work on the President's motorcade. Here is a picture of the Library/museum from the second floor:

Here is a picture of us in front of the Oval Office reproduction:

(Yes, I shaved my goatee--I think Bari is happier). :)

After touring the Library we drove around Little Rock and saw Central High School (where nine black students integrated the school in 1957), the governor's mansion (where then-Governor Clinton lived for twelve years), and the state capitol. Here is Central High (it is huge!):

Here is us in front of the Arkansas state capitol:

We ended the evening at a minor league baseball game. We watched the Arkansas Travelers (AA affiliate of the Angels) beat the Wichita Wranglers (AA affiliate of the Royals) 4-3, with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was an exciting game.

Total miles driven today: Approximately 160

Gas price in Little Rock, AR: $2.79 (it went up!) (I also forgot to post the other day that the gas price in Jackson, Tennessee was $2.65). I had thought there would be more variation around the country, but I guess not.

We are off to Dallas tomorrow!

Mr. Duck Master...

While in Memphis we stopped by the Peabody Hotel to find out why it is so famous. The concierge told us about how there are ducks that hang out in the lobby of the hotel from 11 AM to 5 PM every day. Now...one may ask "How do they get to the lobby?" Well...that would be someone's job. This person's job title - Head Duck Master.

There is a Duck Palace on the roof of the hotel where anyone can go see the ducks when they are not in the lobby. At 11 AM Mr. Duck Master guides the trained ducks from the roof to the lobby in the elevators. This must be the best job in the world!

We're on our way to Little Rock this morning.

"Don't Be Cruel"

We began this morning with a tour of Graceland, Elvis’s mansion. It just seemed like the thing to do while in Memphis. Graceland is an incredible house. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

We continued the “tourist” theme after Graceland by heading to the National Civil Rights Museum, located at the former Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. This museum had a very interesting overview of the civil rights era, but there was too much text in the exhibits. It was impossible to read everything. The highlight of the museum was seeing the balcony where MLK was shot, as well as the bathroom across the street where James Earl Ray allegedly fired the fatal bullet (I say “allegedly” because, according to the museum, there are actually a few different theories as to who was involved in the assassination, although most people beleive that Ray acted alone).


We then drove around downtown Memphis before going back to Beale Street for dinner. We went to Alfred’s, where a 20-piece band played Big Band tunes.

Tomorrow (Monday) the plan is to leave in the morning to go to Little Rock, check into a hotel, make sure the kitties are settled, and then go see the Clinton Presidential Library. We have decided to stop in Little Rock even though it is only two hours away because the cats do not seem to mind traveling, and because the truck with all of our furniture will not arrive in San Antonio until Thursday at the earliest. As long as the cats are ok, we might as well see the country and sleep in real beds while we wait for our stuff. Tomorrow night we hope to catch a minor league baseball game.

I hope everyone is doing well. I will try to post from Little Rock tomorrow night or Tuesday morning.