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.

Pictures from Saturday

Here are pictures of me and Bari at Churchill Downs (separately, as the other person stayed with the kitties in the car). Churchill Downs is just south of downtown Louisville, right next to the University of Louisville.

We then traveled south toward Nashville. At some point on the highway we passed into the Central Time Zone. I expected there to be a sign, but we did not see anything. We realized that the time was an hour earlier when Bari looked down at her phone and the time had changed. How are people supposed to know exactly where it changes? We made a brief stop in Nashville to see the state capitol and drive around downtown. Nashville was larger than I had expected. Here is the capitol:

We made it to Memphis around 6:00 and checked into a hotel. The cats are being great—when we leave the hotel we put them in the bathroom, and when we return they are happy to roam the room. Right now they are both lying down comfortably on the bed. They have made this trip so easy because we have been able to drive to a lot of places and go out on our own without them being difficult. Here is Bogey during the drive:

Last night we went to Beale Street for food and music. We ate really yummy Memphis BBQ ribs and listened to blues and ‘50s rock-n-roll. Beale Street really is the happening place in Memphis! We enjoyed the music at the Blues City Café where we ate—the lead singer danced like Elvis! We also met some interesting people there—including Ronnie from Indiana, Melissa from Wisconsin, and “Doc,” a hair stylist from Little Rock. Another highlight was a group of hip-hop dancers on Beale Street. One of the dancers performed incredible flips, backflips, and other gymnastic maneuvers down the street. All in all, it was a fun night.

"I was walking in Memphis..."

We're headed out to Beale Street for some food and music. We may not have time to post tonight as the hotel we are in does not have wireless internet (we are on the computer in the lobby). We had fun today with a quick stop at Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby), a drive through downtown Nashville, and then over to Memphis. More posts and pictures later!

Louisville is charming

We had a really great time in Louisville today. It is quite a nice city. The people are friendly, the streets are clean, and the pace is relaxed. We ate lunch at a great italian place across the Ohio River in Indiana, which had a nice view of the Louisville skyline:

We then made our way into downtown Louisville. After driving around for a little while, we went to the Louisville Bat Company and Museum, which can be found easily by a huge Louisville Slugger:

We took a tour of the factory and watched the workers make bats for several major league ballplayers. Today they were making bats for Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez.


In the museum they have replica bats from many players. Here is me with Jackie Robinson's bat:

After leaving the museum we walked around Main Street and 4th Street Live, a cool pedestrian walkway with a lot of venues for live music. On Main Street we ran into the Kentucky Car Art Festival. Apparently people decorate their vehicles with stickers, ornaments, and other items, and then go to these festivals around the country.

I liked the Bubble Truck:


After exploring these areas we went to Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats (a minor league baseball team), to see the bands Collective Soul, Live, and Counting Crows in concert. This was an incredible show, and I urge you all to check it out when it comes to your area (visit http://www.countingcrows.com/ to find the tour dates). Collective Soul played for about 45 minutes and finished with their hit "Shine." They played a really good show:

Live played for about an hour, and while good, they were not as energetic as Collective Soul:

Then Counting Crows took the stage and played for over an hour and a half. Now, most of you know that I am a huge Counting Crows fan, so perhaps I am biased, but we both thought that they truly stole the show. This may have been the best Counting Crows concert I have ever seen. Adam Duritz (the lead singer) was incredible. They played three songs from the upcoming album (due out in November), but focused on their earlier songs. I am amazed by how Adam puts so much emotion into his singing, as if he is performing the song for the first time. They played favorites such as Mr. Jones, Anna Begins, and Hard Candy, but also played songs that are not as well known, such as Perfect Blue Buildings and Ghost Train. I was really excited that we were able to see this concert on our way to Texas. Here is a classic Adam pose:

The kitties stayed in the hotel room all day and seemed perfectly happy when we arrived "home" tonight. Marcel does not seem bothered at all, and Bogey is acclimating herself to new environments. Hopefully they will be ok going back in the car tomorrow. Next stop: Memphis! "We're going Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennessee, we're going to Graceland."

Total miles traveled today: approximately 10.

Gas price in Clarksville, IN: $2.69 (let's hope it keeps going down!).

States visited: 2 (IN, KY).

Hello from Jeffersonville, IN! (just outside Louisville)

We're off to Texas!

As you can see, Bogey and Marcel drove most of the way.

Here is a description of what we saw today, which I wrote earlier while in the car:

I am typing this from Lexington, Kentucky, while Bari is driving (perhaps this is where the Sprint wireless internet card would come in handy).

We left VA today around 1:00. The kitties were quite meowy for the first thirty minutes, but they settled down after that. In fact, Marcel has been particularly good. He has preferred to be in his carrier but has been really quiet, even letting Bogey walk on his carrier while he is in it! Bogey has been fussy at times but also has been ok in general. She has preferred to roam the car (we have her on a leash while we are driving). We expected hours and hours of meowing, so we are pleasantly surprised so far. Marcel turned into a different kitty for a while--he was actually good!

Our first stop was the West Virginia Welcome Center for a bathroom break. The women working there were not very welcoming—they seemed more interested in watching TV. They did inform me that West Virginia's slogan is "wild and wonderful." They could not really tell me, however, what exactly makes the state "wild" or "wonderful." The next stop was in Big Otter, WV. I can now say that I have been to Big Otter! My dreams have been fulfilled! Inside the gas station they had a big ad urging customers to contact Congress to oppose a tax on cigarettes, claiming that the tax discriminates against smokers. Awesome. I also picked up a flyer for the local bluegrass festival. Activities at the festival include “kiss the goat."

We did a quick drive through Charleston, WV, the state capital, to see the capitol building (in honor of Mark, whose family wants to visit all fifty).

Unfortunately we did not see the capitol in Lexington, KY. Oh well. We also stopped in Huntington, WV, home of the Marshall University Thundering Herd (featured in the movie “We are Marshall”). Our final pit stop was in Shelbyville, KY to change drivers. Bari won 50 cents in a 50 cent KY lottery game (which was similar to a scratch ticket but involved no scratching--weird).

As you might imagine, we have listened to the radio a ton today. XM Radio has been great. At one point while Bari was sleeping I listened to a show on XM channel 2 that Tom Petty hosted which highlighted his favorite "unknown" songs. There was great variety: funk, blues, rock, etc. We also listened to a bunch of baseball: some of the Red Sox game, the Nationals game, and Barry Bonds' at bats from the Giants-Dodgers game. I love listening to baseball on the radio. As Bari said, "baseball is the one sport where you can really see what is happening over the radio." This is especially true when you are listening to a good announcer, such as Vin Scully from the Dodgers.

Here is what we have paid for gas across the country: Arlington, VA: $2.83. Big Otter, WV: 2.79.

Total miles traveled: Approximately 619

States visited today: 5 (VA, MD, WV, KY, IN)

Very quiet...

It is very quiet in the house. Bari and the kitties are asleep. The house is empty, except for the few items that will go in the car with us. We hired some movers to load the truck earlier today. They spent four hours and packed all of our belongings into eleven feet of the truck (we are being charged for each foot we use--I thought we would use 14 feet--and these guys were very impressive with how they packed everything).

Tomorrow we just have to meet with our landlord and pack the car, and then we'll hit the road!

Today was a little sad, because we had to say goodbye (for now) to a lot of really close friends. We had drinks with Bert and Monica and then a "Yee-haw" party with a bunch of our closest friends from college (I refused to call it a "goodbye" party). We will really miss the great friends and community we have here in D.C. It is certainly tough moving to a new place where we know no one! But I am sure that we will meet people quickly. I am extremely excited about my clerkship, and I know that Bari is excited about becoming an elementary school teacher. So, while we can be a little sad tonight, we will look forward to tomorrow and the next year, as we know they will bring a ton of adventures.

Special thanks to Mark, Annie, Drew, Kristen, Tim, Jackie, Liz, Chris, and Naomi for a great sendoff. You--and everyone else we have said "yee-haw" to over the past few weeks--have a special place in our hearts.

I will try to post tomorrow night from whereever we are (likely Louisville), assuming we have an internet connection. Oh--sorry for the lack of pictures. I am "borrowing" neighbor's internet, and pictures would take too long to upload.

We're off! Giddy-up!

"Interesting trades considered"

We decided to sell a mattress on Craigslist. A friend who also is a huge Seinfeld fan was over when I posted the message, and he suggested that I write "interesting trades considered" in the ad. For those of you who have not seen the episode, Kramer urges Jerry to write "interesting trades considered" in a newspaper ad for a van that Jerry is selling (Kramer then tries to make an "interesting" trade with Jerry). Well, I received one offer: a woman wanted to trade me her "cart" for the mattress. Intrigued, and not knowing what type of cart she meant, I told her she could email me pictures. Well, she actually sent the pictures--of a used shopping cart (the type you see people pushing to and from the supermarket). She was serious in her offer of the cart. I am not sure how "interesting" it was, but it was certainly funny!

No, I did not take the cart. I sold the bed for $26.

The House is a Mess!

We are almost ready to begin our journey to San Antonio!

Here is Marcel preparing for the trip.

You can see that he is ready to go!

Bogey is also excited!

Our house is pretty much all packed up. This:

will go into this:

on Wednesday.

We will begin our drive on Thursday morning. We will try to post updates every day or every other day from around the country. Hopefully we will have some good stories and pictures.

The first stop is Louisville, Kentucky. Yee-haw!