Vagabond travel log

We were particularly uninspired this month so we put off writing about the keys on multiple occasions, then we put off writing about the stuff after the Keys now we're trying to put it off again. It's really something down there though. While it's been cold everywhere else we got sun burnt on Bahai Honda State Beach, got kicked out of a Kmart parking lot in Key West, ate a cheeseburger (in paradise) and had a couple beers at a tiki bar overlooking the the gulf.


Leaving the Key's we went back to Miami where our friend hooked us up with her super sweet aunt Janet who put us up over Christmas and fed us very well. We thought we had gained a little weight but people must think we are starving on the road because they really lay it on with the food. Thank God, because we love food!

We are now in a half-ass hurry to get to Louisiana where we hope to work for a couple weeks on a farm. Hope being the key word, we do not have confirmation at this point...

This almost brings us up to now. While we were having breakfast at a park yesterday before heading out on a bike ride we met this nice old guy that gave us some Redfish he had just caught, he even filleted them for us! We made plans to meet him after our ride and when we got back we were ready to eat so we headed over to his campsite (under a bridge) and we all had some fish, rice, beer and bourbon for dinner. It was a nice vagabond family dinner we had under that bridge.


Today we woke up and had eggs and hash browns at the beach and headed here to blow a few hours surfing the net and catching up on postcards.

We've spent nearly a month in Florida and it's been like driving through the zoo most of the time. We've seen so much wildlife; manatee's, crocodiles (even a baby one), alligators, blue crabs, crabs that look like ticks, fish, armadillo's, big foot, dolphins, roseate spoonbills (also known as a giant pink bird) and even a bald eagle. Our next set destination is New Orleans on January 21. Everything between now and then is up in the air. We're not looking forward to the cold and snow in other states, but are excited to be getting closer to home and to seeing our families and little Frankie dog.

Florida redeemed

Since our last update we headed southward and Florida warmed up a little and then got cold again and then rained and then got warm again...we visited Albert's parents neighbors friends Chuck and Linda, drank, partied, crashed a boat parade on Chuck's party boat that was decked out with Christmas lights and then headed to Fort Lauderdale to scoop up Mom and Reed from the airport.


We stopped by 'Robert is Here' market on our way to the Everglades and got some boiled peanuts, which Marisa thought were odd, but were well liked by everyone else in our party along with some milk shakes, fresh fruit and veggies.


We walked the Anhinga Trail when we got into the everglades and saw a huge alligator right away. Albert tried to get Marisa to lay on the ledge next to it, but she wasn't in the mood to get eaten by an alligator so he took a picture of himself next to it instead. We saw a lot of wildlife on the trail; alligators, a wood stork, egrets, herons (little ones, big ones, green ones, blue ones), black headed vultures, a bird banging a fish on a branch. As soon as we got to the Flamingo Marina we had a manatee sighting.

We camped on land a couple nights in between canoeing the mangroves and the gulf. Only had one run in with an Alligator, it was pretty sweet seeing it swim under our canoe. We didn't see a single shark while camping on Shark Bight Chickee, but we did see a bald eagle and on the 9.5 mile paddle back to the marina we saw plenty of crabs, snails and a few fish.

Canoeing was pretty rough for Marisa--she got pretty frustrated with the zig-zagging and over all lack of control a canoe allows the paddlers. But Albert was patient and we made it through four days of paddling a route that would put a drunken sailor to shame and we had fun despite the frustration.

Turns out we couldn't have gone to Bakersfield for this. Florida has plenty to offer and we are only halfway done here. Especially since Florida is warming up like it should and Bakersfield is flooding right now. We hope everyone is safe and keeping dry back home.

Conversation in Florida

A: Why is Florida cold?

M: This is bull shit!

A: Why do people come to Florida for winter? I could go to bakersfield for this.

M: So much for t-shirt weather.

Georgia on our mind :]

There wasn't much we were interested in doing in Atlanta, just so happened the day we got there was the SEC championship football game, Gamecocks v. Tigers, it was ridiculous downtown! The traffic was horrendous, and the streets beyond the dome were vacant. There were some crazy looking tailgate parties that we probably should have gotten in on, but we know nothing about college football. We hung out all day, just doing stuff to kill time until the drive-in movie theater opened!


M: Ohh man! I was so excited about the drive in! Harry Potter & Due Date, it was going to be awesome! But the day was just dragging on...and there wasn't a whole lot that we could find to do in Atlanta. We were experiencing city burn out, all the city's are sort of becoming the same, shopping, food, spending money...we're getting to the point where we need to get a schtick (bubbles come to mind) and start performing on street corners for hand outs...we don't really have money to blow gallivanting around cities. Anyways, I was bored and excited for the movies, so I sort of took us to the drive-in two hours before the movies actually started....

A: There I was all warm and comfortable in the Barnes and Noble reading books and magazines I had no intention to buy and Marisa says "lets go!" who am I to stomp on her excitement and look at my watch? I just figured it was close to time... Two hours early! we show up and even the guy that works there looks at us funny. We decided it was too far to go back to the book store but the grocery store was close so we looked for entertainment there.

M: Man, I was totally thinking we could tail gate--make dinner at the drive-in! But, it was sort of misting outside and it was cold...luckily it cleared up when we were in the grocery store. Wasted an hour at the market and then we headed to the drive-in! Man, I still can't believe they closed the drive-in in Bakersfield! People LOVE the drive in! $7 double feature, bring your own snacks, sit in the comfort of your own vehicle, what could be better?!

A: By snacks she means a bag of fritos, bean dip, salsa, pickles, chocolate and a bottle of wine for dinner. When we got back to the drive-in it was a little closer to movie time and other people were there.

After the drive-in, we headed to our city camping place of choice; Walmart and on to Savannah the following day.

We've never been in a city with as much character as Savannah. The architecture, the squares and parks, the old oaks dripping with spanish moss, such a charming place to visit. We got out our bikes, but probably should have just walked, to see the squares. We rode for two blocks at a time, square to square and ended up at the water front where we sampled some free candy and made a pit stop before we headed back to the truck.

Albert was being all bossy before he headed into the restroom. I was pretty irritated, until I looked down at my phone and saw a series of text messages:

"Ok, I guess it's always this way for ladies, but I just sat down on a very warm toilet seat and thought, 'ooh, someone was just here,' then I thought...'thanks, my butt was colder than I thought..."

and then a minute later:

"Holy shit! The toilet just flushed unexpectedly while I was sitting on it! I just about hit the ceiling. That's scary shit! I would have handled and earth quake better."

Sometimes it takes some shit to loosen people up. We biked back to the truck, well, we almost biked back to the truck. We passed a pub on the way, pulled over a block later--great minds think alike and a look was all it took. Within five minutes we were at a local dive, enjoying a tall boy in the company of a pit bull named Chainsaw, a bartender that was terrible with money and dozens of signed portraits of politicians on the walls. Cash cab was on the small screen and we relaxed in a warm smoky bar after a cold day wandering Savannah.

Ice! Ice!! Ice!!!!

We ended up staying with our friends an extra day after seeing the weather channel anchors freak out over a tornado sweeping across Georgia and headed to the Carolinas. Chrissy demanded we stay another night, saying, "We gotta hunker down!!" Albert was excited, but we were let down, we didn't see any gray funnel clouds or cows getting swept into the air, just listened to the rain come down and the wind push the trees around.

The next day we made it on the road in the late afternoon and headed back to North Carolina to check out The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Definitely smoky, definitely beautiful and definitely icy. We saw a bunch of mounted dead animals in the visitor center and turkey cross the road, but we really want to see the park in the spring or summer to see the Unicorn Beetles, colorful salamanders and plants.


We had decided to do a hike, before we realized how icy it was, and headed towards Chimney Tops hike.

A: We went about halfway and one of us decided that she isn't into hiking anymore and went back to the truck. She left me to fend for myself in the frigid weather and and risk death going to the top with nobody to help if I break a leg or something.

M: We went a little over halfway. I told you that I wasn't hiking to the top, before we even got there. There was icicles everywhere and ice in the middle of the trail! The sign at the beginning of the hike showed the steep rockiness at the top, I imagined it with a layer of ice, and said nope. no health insurance, can not afford to break a leg. not going to the top. I told you that you could hike back with me, but you preferred to be tragic and tell me, "If I'm not back by four, call someone," when you knew perfectly well, there is NO cell phone service out there!

A: in reality the top was the driest part of the trail, just like the old people told us (old people on their way down from the top) It was not the Matterhorn but there was some ice and I fell on my butt once. I didn't expect you to climb the rocks but that's just the last 50 feet.

M: Of course the last 50 feet are the driest of the trail, because the sun has melted the ice! But the part I turned around at was covered in ice. What it comes down to, is that next time, you should go hiking with the old people that have health insurance and can afford to break their hip instead of shaming me for my decision.

A: Pshhhh, old people rule! Health insurance, shmelth insurance. So there is a little woosie-itis associated with new things and being cold. turns out nobody broke a hip and it was nice up there, just like the old folks said.

Now we're in Georgia and are going to head to Atlanta, we're not sure what we're going to do there yet, but Marisa's wanting to get some duck at the Public Market and there's a puppet museum...Then we're off to Savannah, to do what? Again we're not sure, but it'll be cool. We're looking to getting into Florida and not waking up to frost in our sleeping area.

haven't lived on the road for weeks

After leaving Marisa's cousins in North Carolina the truck had a little problem on the way to Graveyard Fields and for the second time we aborted our attempt to hike there. Apparently the truck was angry with us after sitting so long and decided to cry, the water pump sprung a leak. Unsure if we could make it to Albert's Uncle's house in Jedburg, South Carolina, we decided to go for it anyway when he told us he had a mechanic for a neighbor. Once we were there and not worried about a place to stay Albert tore apart the truck with the encouragement of his Uncles and Dad and got the Problem fixed. Had we taken it into the neighbors shop it would have cost a whopping $700 to fix!

At Uncle Stephens place the family time continued, eight of us converged on him and Anglia and filled the house. We checked out downtown Charleston on a carriage ride, walked the slave market, sat around the house and talked a lot. It was good times had by all for nearly a week. Early thanksgiving dinner plus home cooked meals most every other day and candy bowls full to the top added an inch or two to everyone's waistline.

Lucky for us we weren't done with Thanksgiving, all that goodness above happened the week before thanksgiving. We headed a few miles over to Marisa's friends Christina and Steven's place for real Thanksgiving. On that little 25 minute drive the truck reminded us that it is not going to last forever but this time it only requested a break job and tire rotation. There was only four of us for Thanksgiving but that didn't stop us from making a deep fried turkey, a ham plus all the sides and 3 pumpkin pies. Oddly, we don't feel burned out on ham and turkey, I guess months of ramen noodles and oatmeal has burned out our food burnout circuit.

Charleston has a restaurant called Justine's Kitchen and Marisa has been raving about it since she went there a year ago. "The best fried chicken I have ever had" she said, we went there and Albert concurs, that is some damn good chicken! Crisp brown crust and juicy savory meat, this chicken is phenomenal, the sides are good and the dessert is great.

We are also back to our beer sampling ways plus some. Our house and the two neighbors loaded up and drove out to Coast Brewery for some local brews. This is a husband and wife operation based in a warehouse funded by a second mortgage on their house and they are making some good beers, we left with a growler full. Next stop was Firefly Distillery for some sweet tea vodka and more. They also make other infused vodkas, a couple rums, and a sweet tea bourbon that we decided to take a bottle of. Crazy thing, right on the same plantation as the distillery is a vineyard, so we tasted some wine too... We made it out of that place without a bottle of something so no need to worry about us having a "problem." We were only a couple miles from a tea plantation to so we checked it out. It turns out tea grows on hedge with medium sized leaves. It just seems like it would be different for some reason, they trim the top of the hedge, dry those leaves and depending on how long it's dried you get green, oolong or black tea.

Albert and Steven were both due for new running shoes and when black Friday rolled around they were inspired to go for an early afternoon shopping trip to get some Vibram five fingers. These shoes aren't shoes as much as they are gloves for your feet and running barefoot apparently uses completely different muscles than with shoes. The next day a leisurely 1.25 mile jog resulted in nearly debilitating calf soreness that lasted four days. The next few days were spent struggling to get up and down the stairs at the house.


The fun and games are over once again, our hosts must get back to work and we must move on. Unfortunately the weather has gone from warm and sunny to cloudy and cold with rain coming. Fingers are crossed that the truck is satisfied with it's repairs and the weather doesn't treat us too bad because soon we'll be homeless and on the road again.

We're not sure exactly where we're headed yet, it's a toss up between back tracking to Great Smoky National Park or moving on to Georgia. Either way we'll be in the Everglades with Marisa's mom and her BF in two weeks.

four days apart

M: So, Albert's back after spending five days away in California for his grandma Elinore's funeral. It could be considered as cheating on the road trip, but I don't think of it that way and I'm glad he was able to fly back and be with his family to celebrate his grandmas life.

Albert drove to Charlotte, NC on 8th, right after I finished cutting his hair. I spent the week at my cousin Joe's house in Hendersonville, North Carolina. For the first couple of hours the house was empty and I was alone for the first time in four months. It was pretty odd. I didn't know what to do. I felt so lost. Where was Albert, Amber...anyone??

It's been fun staying here. Going to the gym with Paula and playing with Abby 8, Emily 6 and Sam 4. The kids are constant free entertainment and there's daily WWF style living room wrestling. Christmas music is already on the radio and there's a chorus in the back seat every trip away from the house. After the kids got to sleep the evenings were pretty much spent making fun of reality tv shows (Top Chef: Just Desserts and Billy the Exterminator). Albert's next haircut just may be inspired by Billy, it could be awesome.

Joe's a Pastor at the nearby SDA church, it was nice going to church today and hearing his sermon on forgiveness. I forgive Albert for not calling me back on Thursday, but instead sending me a text message to call him after he was done having drinks with his friends and in need of a diversion at his aunts house. Keep in mind, it was 10:30 here and I was already down in the basement, cozy in bed, watching House on the interwebz.

A: it was earlier in CA and I haven't seen them in months... the only time I haven't been right next to M for the past few months is when we are pooping.

M: It's ok Albert, I forgive you.
(We spent two hours apart when I wanted to see the Art Museum and he wanted to see the Air and Space museum in DC.)

A: I know you miss me every moment I am not there.

M: With the cost of the flight and everything, we're thinking it's getting pretty close to being time to get into bubble making. Giant bubble making--we will be giant bubble making street performers. It's just too bad that Amber isn't with us anymore to be our plant, you know; the person that puts in the first few bucks to get the giving going.

A:I was thinking about picking pockets but bubbles could work, maybe both would be better. We have to decide if we are gypsies or tramps, there is a difference you know.

The way I seen it there weren't many choices. I was going to Bakersfield and Marisa was staying, so I could either push her out of the truck in front of a women's shelter or have her traveling on the other side of the country by herself. One of those options is no good but thank God there was a third option. Marisa stayed with her new found family just 2 hours from Charlotte ,NC where I flew out of. The luck we have...

So, I cheated on the road trip... but I was happy to see the family and honored to be a pallbearer for my grandma. It cost a little much for my cheap ass taste but hey, I have missed plenty of other family stuff for work or because of distance and usually regretted it. This is important.

The journey began with a last minute hairs cut to tame the fro and a two hour drive to the airport. once there I it was a piece of cake getting through with no checked baggage. The trouble started when I got to LAX.

My cheap ass wont pay 40+ bucks for a cab and I'm a little rusty on the bus riding skills so I missed two buses, waited at multiple stops for hours and managed to catch the last possible bus form the airport to UCLA . Marisa's friends mom works at UCLA and she gave me a ride to Bakersfield in the AM after a night spent sleeping in a hospital chair, she works the night shift there.

In Bakersfield I got to spend all kinds of good time with the family and I was honored to be a pallbearer for Grandma. The service and everything went great. There was hardly a down moment and I spent a lot of time with my Soza family, it was like a booster shot of crazy. I also got to see some good friends, they don't know it but I just hang out with them so they will buy me beer when I'm in town... (readership check)

Traveling back was so easy I got on the wrong parking lot shuttle just for kicks! I am back in N.C. and the journey will continue in a few days. Marisa and I have the house to ourselves for a few days so we will be going on hikes, riding our bikes, hanging out downtown, sitting around watching TV and sleeping indoors out of the cold on real beds.

We are off to a great start and we have been sitting on our butts for hours. Leftovers are calling my name from the fridge so I will say bye for now suckers, don't work too hard.