Little Rock

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Texarkana, TX to Little Rock, AR

With the air full of excitement about our day, we left the worst La Quinta ever, crossed the street into Arkansas, and headed to Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, AR. Nuvi had us exit I-30 at Hope, AR onto AR-34 north, and we passed by a FEMA installation that contained thousands and thousands of fifth wheel trailer homes ready to roll, with what appeared to be officials checking each one systematically to ensure they were still operational. It was the single largest tornado target I have ever seen.

We reached the Diamond Park a little after 10 am. Basically, the entire park is a plowed field where people keep finding diamonds at a rate of 3 a day, the largest reaching 40+ carats; which is not enough to invest in a true mining operation, but more than enough to bilk tourists out of a little cash. There are a number of ways to hunt for the diamonds at the park: dry searching, which entails walking around and looking at the ground, dry digging, which is digging random holes in the ground in the hopes of finding a honker, and wet sluicing, which is what we did in Montana at Gem Mountain to find the sapphires, using screens to wash the dirt and pebbles in a desperate attempt to have the denser diamonds settle on the bottom of the pan so when you flip the screen the shiny aims of our desire would be sitting on top of the pebble pile. We purchased tickets to enter the field and rented some prospecting equipment. Tara took her trowel and started looking for shiny objects on the surface. I filled up the bucket with shovel-fulls of dirt and headed to the water bins. Two hours later we had an expert determine that we were excellent quartz hunters and left the State Park empty handed heading into town for a place called Betty's.

Either Murfreesboro has competing restaurants called Betty's and Buddy's that fit the description of the quartz spotting expert, or they have an interesting accent in central Arkansas. Regardless, we enjoyed our lunch at Buddy's and continued on to Little Rock. We stopped twice at a Books-a-Million and a Hastings Book store. I went into the intended stores finding good deals on audio books, while Tara perused the isles of TJ Maxx and Tuesday Morning respectively.

We reached Little Rock around dinner time, checked into the Hilton Inn, paid the fee to use the wireless connection (which is completely annoying, why do I get free wi-fi at 2 star and below places, but have to pay for it at 3+ star hotels?) and placed our trust in tripadvisor.com to find an Italian restaurant. Cafe Prego was the top rated choice. It was a nice place, with good portion sizes (not too big, not too small) and very reasonable prices, but the food was only a step above alright.

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Texarkana

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Austin to Texarkana, TX

We left the Ewings at 10 am in the hope that we would miss traffic in both Austin and Dallas. Other than a brief slowdown to 35 mph in the middle of Dallas, the drive was smooth, but a little long clocking in at 6 hours. Upon arrival to Texarkana, which is actually two towns straddling the border of two states I hope I don't have to name, we checked into the worst La Quinta we have ever seen. It was clear that this La Quinta was recently some other motel and they just slapped a new name on the front. We were actually looking at the nearby Budget Host Inn and America's Best Value Inn and wondering if they would be better. At least there was free Wi-Fi, so we searched tripadvisor.com for a good restaurant in the area. Having skipped lunch we went to the #1 listed restaurant called Ironwood Grill at 4:30, and it did not disappoint. Tara had the Fish Tacos and I could not pass up their Sirloin which was cooked to perfection. After running an errand at Target, we purchased movie tickets at the Cinemark and perused some of the surrounding stores, spending most of our time in the baby section of TJ Maxx as Tara laid out potential wardrobes for Baby Millie until she was 5 years of age. I managed to talk Tara down to just two items. The movie that we saw was the delightful Julie & Julia. Do not attempt this movie on an empty stomach, you simply won't make it all the way through and you'll rush out to find some boeuf bourguignon.

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Austin: Final Days

Sunday to Tuesday, August 16th - 18th, 2009

Sunday was a wonderfully lazy day in Sweeney. Eloise Pantalone made an incredible lunch of chicken spaghetti for everyone and it was held again at the Akin's home. Tara and I spent the day in the back yard by the pool, reading, relaxing and playing with her younger cousins. That night we stayed at Eloise's. Upon Tara's request we watched Star Wars: Episode I, as she has neglected to see the most recent trilogy. Her only comment was that the acting was horrendous. I'm not sure if I should tell her that it doesn't get any better.

We drove back to Austin on Monday and made plans with Chris, Kristen and Lynn Sheppard for dinner that night. The entire afternoon Tara was anxious, asking if we could call our friends in NYC who were expecting a child at some point that day. The Matyjasiks welcomed their daughter Millie Claire at 3:45 EST and notified the world at 6 EST. Happy and relaxed, Tara and I headed out to the Roaring Fork on Congress and 6th Street to enjoy an outstanding dinner with great company.

Our last full day in Austin. I awoke early once again and traveled north to Round Rock to play Teravista Golf Course. I've had success in the past just showing up to a course and getting worked into the mix. Unfortunately, Teravista was packed and they couldn't get a single out until after 10 am. Seeing as it was 7 am, I decided to go to a municipal course called Bluebonnet that was nearby instead. It was great course to play on my final day, easy enough that I birdied three holes, but hard enough that I felt like I deserved those birdies. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, packing, and deciding upon what should be left behind (most of our dining supplies since we are not expecting to camp out or cookout). Our last meal was some delicious fried chicken from Golden Chick.

Austin: Week 2

Sunday, August 9th to Saturday, August 15th

Our second week in Austin began with a family pool day and cook out at Bonnie and Phil Doubek's home in Round Rock, TX, northwest of Austin proper on Sunday. Of course it rained for the first time during our visit, but that only served to raise everyone's spirit.

Relaxed and recharged, I returned to Plum Creek Golf Course Monday morning (after learning that Woodcreek Golf Course in Wimberley, TX didn't open until noon; I learned this by showing up at 7 am and the guy vacuuming the clubhouse filled me in. Do they not realize that golfers prefer to play in the morning to avoid the heat?). After my round, I drove to San Marcos and met up with Tara, Edith Stahl, and Gloria Ewing for some outlet shopping. Being covered in sweat, smelly, and sticky worked to my advantage as I was able to sneak off after a short while to shower and relax. That night, Tara and I sought out Asian food and discovered Blue Bamboo with Edith and Greg Stahl. They served very good Thai and Vietnam fare for a minuscule price.

Tuesday was a day of rest, relaxation and laundry. Kent Ewing, Tara's dad, dragged out his fish fry pan, customized and seasoned from a plough disc, to cook up catfish and shrimp for dinner.

I travelled back to The Bandit at 5:15 AM the next morning to make an early tee time. I can almost feel my old golf game lurking in the background and the 240 yard 5-wood that I stuck on the 18th to reach the par 5 in 2 strokes makes me think it is two weeks away. Good thing I'm leaving in less than a week or I could get hooked on golf all over again. For dinner I made a meat sauce with pancetta, Italian sausage and meatballs made from ground venison and bison, all of which turned out better than I could have hoped.

I spent Thursday morning at Avery Golf Course playing my second favorite course of this trip, and the afternoon at the Firestone getting the car rechecked as the Service Engine Soon light flashed on for about an hour earlier in the week. Turns out the other oxygen sensor might be about to fail, but the helpful technicians at Firestone said that the light needs to be on for longer before they can properly diagnose the problem. With all of the good food around the house we had leftovers for dinner.

On Friday we headed down to Sweeney, TX to celebrate Eloise Pantalone's (Tara's maternal grandmother) 81st Birthday. We stayed with Bill and Joy Akin, Tara's Uncle and Aunt, and a host of other family members. The Akin's have an incredible enclosed backyard that is protected by a 20+ foot screen to keep the bugs out, a pool, a grill with a built in sink and refrigerator, a fireplace and a pizza oven. That night we feasted on homemade pizza and tiramasu.

Saturday was the day of the party. I volunteered to keep an eye on the meat that was in the BBQ, which meant I stayed in a lounge chair and/or the pool reading, dutifully checking the temperature every 15 minutes and flipping the meat every hour. Seeing that this job was stressful, Tara enlisted me to assemble the swinging porch chair the family had purchased for Eloise with her cousin Kellen. We finished just in time to rush Bill A. to the emergency room when the broken bowl of cole slaw sliced the tip of his middle finger off. As it so often occurs, the party went on without a hitch, and Bill A. received a heroes welcome upon his return.

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To the Beach

Tara and I will be leaving the comfy confines of Austin, TX on Wednesday, August 19th to reach Pine Island, NC on Sunday, August 23rd. The route has been decided upon, but the daily activities are still up in the air. Any suggestions?

Wednesday: Austin, TX to Texarkana, TX

Thursday: Texarkana, TX to Little Rock, AR (with a diamond mine stop at Murfreesboro, AR)

Friday: Little Rock, AR to Nashville, TN

Saturday: Nashville, TN to Ashville, NC and the Biltmore Mansion (tour tickets and an evening at the flower carpet already arranged)

Sunday: Ashville, NC to Pine Island, NC (expect us late - it is an 8+ hour drive)

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Austin: Week 1

Sunday to Saturday - August 2nd - 8th, 2009

It was a full week in the heat here in Austin, TX with temperatures climbing into the triple digits almost everyday. One of the first things we did was take the car to a Firestone and learned that it was a faulty oxygen sensor which was causing the Service Engine Soon light to come on. $300+ later it was fixed. I've spent the week enjoying the golf courses in the area, which are in surprisingly good shape despite the severe drought, playing with my new clubs that were waiting for me when I arrived. I played at Roy Kizer Municipal GC in Austin, Plum Creek in Kyle, and The Bandit in New Braufels (my favorite) on my own, plus Balcones Country Club near Round Rock with my second cousin Chris Sheppard. (Map of the golf courses) Tara has been shopping and finding deals with her mom and best friend Edith Stahl. We have enjoyed the fine cuisine in the area, Trattoria Lisina Restaurant and Winery in Driftwood, Green Mesquite for their Monday Chicken Fried Steak Special, and The Saltlick BBQ for the best brisket, sausage, ribs, and turkey anywhere, not to mention the great food that we have cooked up here at the house. We have another week + of relaxing here before we need to start making our way east to the beach in NC. We'll be sure to update daily once we are on the road again. Pictures will be posted one of these days.

Day 41

Day 41 - Saturday, August 1st, 2009

Carlsbad, NM to San Angelo, TX

With promises that we would go to Big Bend National Park in southern Texas during a cooler time of the year, we headed into the heart of Texas, leaving Carlsbad, NM, and our questionable motel room, nice and early. Our plan was to stay the night in San Angelo, TX, but following a phone conversation with Greg Stahl we learned that San Angelo was only 3 hours away from Austin. Nuvi was telling us that we would reach San Angelo at 1 pm MT, which meant that we could be in Austin by 5 pm CT. We decided to push through, stopping only for gas, Big Red (my first experience with this delicious strawberry-like flavored soda), and Dairy Queen...twice, once for lunch, once for desert later in the afternoon. We actually reached Tara's parents at 5:30 CT, just in time to get cleaned up and head out for a big family dinner at Flores with her parents, sister, a handful of aunts and uncles, and a multitude of cousins. Relaxed by the excellent food and tasty margaritas, we settled in to the room that would be home for the next 2 weeks consecutively, a rarity to be enjoyed following this lengthy leg of our summer journey.

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Day 40

Day 40 - Friday, July 31st, 2009

Las Cruces, NM to Carlsbad, NM

The night before we had looked at the National Park Service website for Carlsbad Caverns National Park and learned of a 3 hour expedition through the lower level of cave that left at 1 pm. Even though the website said the spelunking tour was fully booked, we set off in time to make it to the park with time to spare in case they could squeeze in a couple of people. Our travels were going great until we encountered a border patrol stop on RT - 375 W 20 miles outside of El Paso. The Border Patrol agents appeared to be doing a thorough job and we were mentally preparing to unpack the car in needed. As we waited in line to be passed through, Tara admonished me for wanting to ask if I could pet the patrol dog. I ultimately opted not to ask. I also did not respond to the query of if we were American citizens with "Que?" despite a nearly overwhelming desire. We were passed through with no problems, but the delay pushed us past our target time.

We discarded our hopes of a three hour tour and stopped at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park Visitor Center. While continuing on to the caverns, traveling at 60 mph on a flat surface no less, our car shuddered, coughed, and the Service Engine Soon flared back to life. Fearing the worst, but not daring to stop, we made it to the National Park and purchased tickets for the King's Cavern tour.

Neither of us were aware that most of the cave could be explored for free (with our Annual Pass), until we were on the tour. After the hour long venture with an informative and only mildly annoying guide, we struck out on our own to explore the Great Room. The Great Room is a 1.3 mile hike through the largest cavern I have ever seen. The formations were huge, outstanding, and everywhere.

We spent over 3 hours underground and emerged hungry, so with soothing whispers to the dashboard, we headed to Carlsbad, NM to check into America's Best Value Inn. The name is misleading. This "Inn" was by no means a "Value", being one of the more expensive beds we have rented on this trip. It definitely was no where near being one of the "Best" either, coming close to rivaling the Budget Host Inn in Interior, SD as the worst place that we stayed for a night. It was though in "America," but that still doesn't even meet Meatloaf's standard of "two out of three ain't bad." For dinner we went to Lucy's Mexicali Restaurant and enjoyed some outstanding food. We reluctantly returned to our "Inn" and listened to people splash around in the pool well past pool closing time.

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