Cheeeeeeese, Gromit!
Had to share this!
How to make CHEEEEEESE!!
OK, back to catching up.
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Had to share this!
How to make CHEEEEEESE!!
OK, back to catching up.
First, I need to correct my spelling. DES MOINES was where we stayed.
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OK!! XM radio has kinda dropped to only talk stations. D: D: D: Not having music readily available has been REALLY BAD!! It's tough to drive so many hours without good music. Station surfing has been futile, since most of the music is either really cheesy Christian soft rock or Country...a LOT of Country music. Now that we're closer to Detroit, the music shifted to more grunge Rock and R&B, which is better. But yeah, XM radio if I EVER rent a car.
Nothing much to report, in terms of scenery. It's pretty much...green. Lots of grass, trees, ominous thunderclouds but no rain. We've been reading up and listening for changes in weather forecasts and levy statuses. Luckily, we were clear of any danger.
Being a Californian, I haven't actually seen first-hand the destruction of a twister. We passed by a spot, where a twister traveled, from one side of the freeway to the other. It was like God drew a very quick line with His index finger, through the length of a metal barn house, two rows of trees, just missing a house. It's not something I'd want to experience, I think.
Yesterday, I thought the driving was fine. Today, though, I have decided that I will NEVER drive from Des Moines to Michigan again. NEVER!! The farther east we traveled, the worse the drivers were, leading up to driving through Illinois, Indiana, and now, Michigan, with the ones with Illinois plates being the worst. The road construction and conditions didn't help either. I know...in my HEAD I know...that I should just drive and let it be. The Los-Angeles in me thinks differently.
I should buy jellybeans tomorrow. It helps with the road rage.
Here's a disgusting realization: I figured out what the red spots on my car were. At first, we thought they were from mosquitoes, because there are a lot of them. But it didn't quite make sense. Those were a LOT of red spots. Then I realized what it was. See, on a highway where the speed limit is 75, drivers hit things, and those things happen to be road kill. I have seen a LOT of roadkill...a coyote, deer, prairie dogs, raccoons (lots of raccoons), and other things that have been so decimated that they've become unrecognizable. It makes a horrible mess, which is not at all sarcastic. It really is horrific. Thus, while driving at that very fast speed, the splatter of blood and other matter from passing cars... o_o That's why I'm refusing to touch parts of the car.
Today, we're staying with Linh's friends. Their daughter is behind me, rearranging her stickers and using the computer. After several days of driving, sandwiches, and motels, this feels like a little sanctuary.
For the curious, I have a link to Linh's pictures. I gave up taking pictures; they turned out REALLY bad because I was blindly shooting them at whatever I thought I was pointing at. I'll send them to people, if they wanna see.
Time to sleep, to drive for another day.
Yesterday I thought that XM radio was the GREATEST INVENTION! Today...I'm kinda tired of it, probably because the car only comes with about 10 stations. If I ever travel for a living, though, I would definitely subscribe to it. It's wonderful getting a clear signal from ANY location (except under overpasses and inside tunnels), with playlists that actually has some rhyme and reason.
Driving through the Rockies wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was a gradual upward grade, not a steep one, and the top of the Rockies, at least where we were, was kinda...flat.
Utah, when going towards Salt Lake City, looks more like the Nevada area. Green but dry brush, with the mountain/rock formations in the back. It looks a lot like the scenery in Cars (we only saw one Nascar big rig, sponsored by Sprint). Wyoming is more green, with white, fluffy clouds and green pastures. Prairie dogs are very little and very daring! They actually walk onto the freeway, and then make a mad dash back into the grass.
Lots of construction, lots of big rigs, gotta go! Will write at our next stop: Des Moise (not Michigan...I have no sense of direction!)
First...GABE!! Do you have time this weekend? :)
Highlights from the trip...
- 4.5 hours of sleep, awake at 5 am, and packing/cleaning/having An wait for me and my unorganized self, and driving out at 6 am
- At the security check, I was stopped because my DRIVER'S LICENSE WAS TOO OLD to go through security. STUPID TSA and their wanna-be advanced designs with UV light detection! My license doesn't expire until 2011.
- Hertz is really nice. They found out that I was sitting outside, waiting for my car, in 50 degree weather (I was stupid enough to just come in a t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops) and told me to come in...and then showed me the ways of the e-brake on an American car (it's the random pedal to the left, btw)
- It is the end of an ERA! I have no reason to visit Berkeley now except to go on campus...and eat :)
- Fog...unto San Rafael Bridge and then sunlight! Oh, and the toll is $4 now...
- Around Sacramento, little punk-drivers. I decided to play with one of them (civic) for tailing me with about 5 feet between me and him. Kept pushing and pushing...into NOTHING because we were being held by a car a few cars in front of us, thus not our fault. Did I mention that renting a V6 is nice? Renting a V6 is very nice. Having Arizona plates also adds injury to insult :)
- Passed such locations as Floriston, Devil's Gate, Fallon and Ely (Prestige anyone?), and other such Biblical and epic sounding places.
- A preaching truck...basically, a truck with a Bible verse, and a message stating "A man + A woman = Marriage"...so yeah, apparently polygamy is acceptable.
- The scenery is amazing. Lots of salt flats, just white areas where nothing grows, and mountains, since this is considered the high desert area. And there is a very obvious division between Nevada and Utah. Nevada has shrubbery and is thus kinda green. Utah is brown and BROWN...and white, with more of the salt flats. High for today, or at least according to the car: 97.
Also, gonna buy instant Tom-Yum noodles when I get home. They're really good. :)
What is this? Cross-country drive?
It has been scheduled!
How will it be? We'll see!
It has been a whirlwind of a weekend, which started off with...
- Took car to dealership, to get it checked for the long drive up and down. Made an appointment, yadda yadda, they took one look at my car and sent me away. REJECTED!! But yeah, it drives fine. :)
- Yearbook was distributed on Friday....FRIDAY!! I'm tired from all the behind-the-scenes work and heavy lifting, but the actual distribution of the book was as calm as ever. They look good this year; the clarity of all the printing went up and my kids immediately noticed it.
- Drove up with An, picked up Jerylin from the airport, arrived at Linh's, and got to work :)
- By work I mean, after Linh fed us, that Jerylin and I were assigned to make sushi rolls. And not just sushi rolls, hana rolls. We took a picture of it with Bryan's camera, so we have to wait for those to arrive first, but yeah. The idea is, with ingredients, we construction a rice roll that has a cross-section image of a flower. Think of it as...instead of having the middle stuff of a California roll, that there was an image of a flower instead. Yeah...we read the directions for a LONG time, trying to figure out what they meant. Made a midnight run to Albertson's, which turned into Lucky's (WHEN did that happen?!), to get eggs, pizza dough, and cucumbers. We managed to make the rice (white, yellow, and pink), and rolled them the next morning.
- At around 6:30 am, the day of the wedding, I realized that I had left my dress in LA. Linh immediately understood why; mental overload from the yearbook distribution. After constructing the pizza and rolling one semi-successful roll (not enough rice on top of the flower o_O), I made the mad rush to Target (washing my car via drive-through and filling up on gas along the way), bought a dress that matched my shoes, luckily grabbed the last can of anti-cling spray for Linh, and continued with the day.
- Wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen became Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen. :)
- The reception included a LOT of "I've NEVER seen that before!" This included Linh, wearing her wedding gown and an apron over it, working in the kitchen, making food for the reception...along with about somewhere between a fifth to a third of the guests helping. It worked, since the wedding was small and low budget (many things borrowed and given...not gifts, but food, wine, decorations, all done in love for the couple). It may have seemed odd to some, but we concluded that this was what Linh wanted: to gather her friends and family, and cook for them, a sign of love, as she has done all these years.
:)
Congratulations, Mr, and Mrs. Nguyen! We all enjoyed your one day, under the eyes of God, holding this name. So congratulations on today, when you will become Mr. and Mrs. DOCTOR Nguyen!!