April 30 – From Georgia to Florida

Today I awoke in the Hotel a little after 7 and quickly got ready, after which I awoke Isaac (who was, as always, reluctant to wake up). After we were both ready we began to pack everything into it’s appropriate bag. We finished this speedily and after a quick check to make sure we had everything we took all of our bags, packed them into the car and left to visit the family one last time before leaving. We got to Lewis’ place at about 8:30 where he asked us to see if we could hook up a DVD/VCR player to his TV. We took on the task and after a half an hour of more of working around with it we got it working and left to get doughnuts (It is Saturday after all). Before getting doughnuts we dropped by Lewis’ work (a bar which let us in because it was before opening). It was a nice place with what I can only describe as a potted garden in the back room and collections of various pictures, statues, and other such things all around. We then went on to Dunkin Doughnuts for our special Saturday Morning Breakfast. We all got what we wanted and then talked about everything while we ate them.

Once we were done the five of us went outside to get pictures with everyone. After a few different poses including different people, Lewis said goodbye and left for work. The remaining four of us went back to Lewis’ apartment, where my car was parked, and after a sorrowful goodbye and a much too kind parting gift from Orman and Frances (thank you again), Isaac and I got back on the road.

Today I drove the whole trip, from Atlanta to Daytona Beach. We passed by a swamp which we attempted to check out but after seeing the cost and noticing that the boat tours were closed we decided to continue on. Other than this the drive only consisted of the long road turning plenty and always surrounded by trees, and the occasional stop for gas or Ice. Oh almost forgot, at our stop for ice at a Wal-Mart I realized that the tube used to drain our ice chest wasn’t doing its job so we took everything out, poured out the dirty water (along with all the bad food inside due to my forgetfulness in replacing the ice), and fixed the problem. It was an easy enough fix but took awhile to figure out how to move everything to fix it.

At a  little after 7 we arrived in Daytona Beach. We made a short stop to see the beach itself before driving to our hosts house which turned out to be a short two blocks from the house. We decided to give “Couchsurfing” (If you don’t know what it is go to couchsurfing.org and look around on there) its first try, and so at the beginning of the week I contacted David, our host, about staying at his house. He was reluctant at first about letting two not reviewed couchsurfers stay at his place but after a short time decided that he was willing to give us a place to stay. His house is beautiful and he is letting us use the guest bed and one of the couches in his front room. So far Couchsurfing is working out very well and I can only thank David for letting us stay here.

After we got situated at the house, Isaac and I walked down to the beach for an evening stroll. I wanted to walk out on the boardwalk but it so happened to be closed for renovation so we just followed to beach north for a while. Since we both hadn’t ate since our morning doughnuts we decided to drop in somewhere and get some dinner and after some looking we decided on Quiznos. The food we got was good and after finishing it we decided to walk the ways back to the house.

Part of the way down we both got distracted by a street performer who was juggling all kinds of crazy things: Flaming batons (or something that was on fire), Machetes, and other sure to be sharp and dangerous things. The show was definitely exciting but almost as entertaining were some of the kids reactions to the things he was juggling. After he had finished we walked back to the house. We both noticed the beautiful, cloudless night sky and decided to stay on the porch for a while, reading and admiring the stars. Eventually we both made it all the way in and here we lay, me writing this and Isaac having fallen asleep while reading what couldn’t have been an extremely interesting book.

 

Interesting Observations:

Hopefully I can remember them all, it’s been a long day. The first needs no explanation though:

I’m not sure if bees have knees but apparently trees do:

To preface this I must first state that outside of Utah there is a lot more use of flashing yellow or red lights to work as respective yield or stop signs. We I’ve come to realize just how severe my inability to tell the difference between yellow and red traffic lights is because of this. Every time we’d pass by one I’d have to ask Isaac what color it was.

April 29 -- Atlanta

I awoke this morning to a wake up call from Zack’s great uncle (Orman), realizing that we were running late. Luckily, he called us early, so we were able to get ready and make it to breakfast with Zack’s relatives (Orman and Frances) only a few minutes after we were planning on being there. After a short ride, we made it to mid-town Atlanta to have breakfast at The Flying Biscuit.

While there were no biscuits whizzing over our heads, we did enjoy a tasty breakfast of raspberry French toast, eggs, biscuits, sausage, and grits. Following a good after-meal talk, we headed over to one of the main attractions of Atlanta—the Georgia Aquarium.

Being the world’s largest aquarium, we had plenty to do over the time we were there. We walked through the various exhibits looking at extravagant species found throughout the world. Near the beginning of our trip, we saw fish such as garden eels, a strange creature that for most of its life only pokes its head out of its burrow to eat, looking similar to an underwater blade of grass. Shortly after, we walked upon a massive tank (containing 6.3 million gallons of water), containing thousands of different types of fish. One of the most prominent of these was the whale shark, the largest fish species in the world.


From the various places we could look into the tank (including a long tunnel on of side), we watched as whale sharks, manta rays, and various other shark/fish species swam around us.

It was truly a spectacular view. In other parts of the aquarium, we saw things like penguins, beluga whales, and jellyfish. As well, there were various opened fish tanks containing safe to touch species. Zack and I both had the opportunity to touch the various creatures (even including a hammer-head shark!).
                                               
Once we had seen the hundreds of species featured at the aquarium, we decided to move on to other parts of the town.

The next attraction was called the Cyclorama, an exhibit based on the Battle of Atlanta. Oddly, it was placed square next to the Atlanta Zoo (which we found out the reasoning for later). Upon arriving inside, we were told that a show was about to start, so we rushed inside just in time to watch a movie about the Battle of Atlanta. Following the movie, we walked up the stairs and sat down on a large, amphitheater style platform.

In front of us was what turned out to be the largest oil painting in the world, covering about 15,000 sq. feet. In the late 1800s, the painting was commissioned for about $43,000, but the man who paid for the painting died before it was finished. It was then sold to a circus, which later went bankrupt. Finally, the painting was sold for a little over $1000, along with all the circus animals (after being placed in their final locations, the animals soon became the beginning of the zoo, while the painting was transformed into the Cyclorama).  I would show you some of it, but no photography was allowed inside the Cyclorama.

To see the painting in full, the lights were turned off, and the platform we were on began rotating slowly. As it rotated, a narrator described the painting, with the aid of spotlights to help point out important details of the artwork. After we saw the painting in full for two rotations, we walked out of the main exhibit to see some various civil war items that were used during the war.

Following this exhibit, Orman, Frances, Zack and I all met with another of Zack’s relatives, Lewis, to have lunch at a retro pizzeria, The Mellow Mushroom. Sharing a large supreme pizza, we each filled ourselves cheerfully. Afterwards, we returned to Lewis’s home, where we played two close games of scrabble, a few games of customized scrabble slam (a card game version where only four letter words are used; while playing this we accidentally learned "hake" and "bast" were words, much to the joy of Frances and I), and shared stories about life with one another. In closing tonight’s blog, I want to give a very big thank you to Orman, Francis, and Lewis, who all showed us great hospitality and kindness to us on our time here in Atlanta.




Interesting Observations:
-So far, Atlanta has had the most impressive skyline of the cities Zack and I have visited. One of the buildings (as we commented to each other) looked a lot like the Empire State Building. We later found out that a nickname for Georgia is the “Empire State of the South” (referring to the actual Empire State Building in New York).


-Yellow and red fire hydrants seem to be somewhat of a rarity in GA. We've only seen silver painted ones thus far here in Atlanta.

April 28–An Introduction to Atlanta

Today we awoke again at Abbey and Logan’s as Logan left for work. We said goodbye and thanks as he left for the day. After this (and after playing with Porscha (sp?) for a while) Isaac started to get ready and I had cereal to appease my morning hunger. After Isaac was ready and I was done with breakfast I started to get ready myself. We were eventually completely ready and had everything packed and ready to be put into the car. Abbey followed us out, carrying a few things for us and said goodbye after we had everything packed.
We stopped for gas but then quickly got on the road to Atlanta, Georgia. On our trip we saw some of the damage done by the series of tornadoes that hit this area. We were definitely not in the worst area hit but we saw some pretty bad damage nonetheless. I didn’t get very many nor very good pictures but I’ll include a few that attempt to catch the image.
After about a four hour drive, during which I mainly did work for the one remaining high-school class I have, we arrived at my great uncle’s house greeted by beautiful weather which hadn’t been present on our travels yet. Upon arrival we went into my Uncle’s son’s, Lewis, house and began to talk of our trip so far and how life has been for all of us since we spoke last.
A little while in we all decided that we were hungry and so after decided what type of food we were in the mood for we traveled to a nearby Mexican restaurant and had some wonderful food. The building itself was heavily decorated with things celebrating the upcoming Cinco de Mayo. Before heading back to Lewis’s apartment, we went to the motel my Uncle had found for us and thanks to the kindness of my Uncle we got a room. We quickly checked out that everything was in order and then headed back to Lewis’s place.
There we sat and continued to talk about life and everything that is happening within it. We eventually turned on the TV to see information about the Tornados that had hit so close and learned of the 288 that had died (again keep those effected in your prayers). Francis, my uncle’s wife, after my telling her that I had a headache gave me an incredible massage that did a good job of relieving some of the pain in my head.
Half way through the conversation Isaac began to drift off into the dream world and after very little coaxing from Francis and Orman moved into the bedroom and fell asleep. And there he stayed for two hours. My relatives and I continued to talk for a while but soon (Isaac’s weariness much be contagious) I got tired and fell asleep on the couch.
A little while later I woke up and convinced Isaac to wake up (this takes a lot more coaxing then convincing him to go to sleep) and the five of us had sandwiches for dinner. After talking for a little while longer I found the GPS on my phone and drove Isaac and I back to the motel for the night.

Interesting Observations:
Isaac is addicted to RuneScape. If he ever denies it tell him he’s lying (he’s on the bed next to me playing it).
My relatives are all very kind, and fun people. We’ve avoided spending a lot money even thus far because of their kindness so thank you to all of you.
My Great Aunt gives amazing massages, if you ever have the chance for one, take it.
Two hours is a really significant time difference. It’s really late, I’m going to bed. Enjoy the Royal Wedding tomorrow.

April 27 -- Nashville

I awoke this morning to be promptly pounced on by Logan and Abbey’s puppy (a mutt about 5 months old, she looks somewhat like an Australian shepherd). But I’ll forgive her since she's pretty cute.

Abbey then cooked Zack and I some tasty French toast, which we ate happily. Following breakfast, we decided to look online and see what would be interesting for us to do in Nashville. Upon looking, we realized that literally almost everything we could find in this city is related to country music (which neither Zack nor I have a particular liking for).

 

Our first choice of things to do was to go to a car museum for stylish and unique cars. However, that was closed, so we had to come up with another plan. One of the items that came up most were former mansions built by plantation owners. Because of the light rain (and a lack of decision about what else to do), we decided to head to the Belmont Mansion.

 

Along the way, we noticed that we would pass the Grand Ole Opry, so we decided to stop and take a look. However, due to some flooding within the past year, a very large portion of the buildings near the Opry were blocked off for construction, so we decided to head on. Shortly afterwards, we noticed that the heater/air conditioner had gone out, so we made a detour to stop at a gas station along the way. While Zack was playing with the wires in the car, I went in to get a drink. Though it was mostly a normal stop at a gas station, one customer walked in saying “This is a holdup!” Apparently he was a regular there, and he said he was kidding immediately after, but it still gave the clerk a bit of a scare (I merely turned around with my drink in hand, trying to figure out if I was going to have to do something or not).

 

I then walked out through the light rain and sat back down in the car. About five minutes later, Zack had at least temporarily fixed the connection, so we headed off once again. Not long thereafter, we arrived at Belmont University. At first, we saw many students walking to classes, and felt overjoyed that we were finished already. However, there was only one problem…parking. We finally found a spot not too far from the mansion, and walked over to the entrance.

 

Inside, we took a guided tour of the mansion (no photography allowed, or I would show you some of it). It was pretty interesting, with many original items and other items from the same time period (mid 1800’s). As the tour progressed, we could somewhat hear the rain coming down harder outside. When we finished, we walked outside to find a downpour of rain (apparently the “Lotawatah” applies to rainfall as well). We literally ran the distance back to the car, still managing to get soaked in the process.

 

Because we still had a few hours left before we were planning on heading back to Logan and Abbey’s place, we decided to explore the town. Along the way, we drove past some pretty prominent locations of Nashville, including the Hard Rock Café and the stadium where the Titans play.

Because the rain was coming down hard (and I had fallen asleep a couple times while waiting at stop lights..) we decided to head back.

 

When we stepped out of our car, the rain was still pouring, and we could hear a siren going off somewhere nearby. While walking back to the room, we realized it must’ve been the tornado warning signal. Luckily, no tornadoes touched down near where we are. However, a mile wide tornado did tear through Tuscaloosa, AL, and other parts of northern Alabama, so please keep those from that area in your prayers.

 

Once back in the apartment (it was only about 4pm for us) we decided to take the rest of the evening off and stay out of the dreary weather. For the rest of the evening, we talked with Abbey and Logan, played with the dog, ate some delicious food cooked by Abbey (thanks Abbey!) and watched a movie.

 

 

Interesting Observations:

-I have three pictures for this section today, the first two needing no explanation from me (though an explanation as to why it’s 24 is accepted if anyone knows why, haha).

  

-And for this third picture, just wanted to note this chain of restaurants we’ve found in the south looks suspiciously familiar…

April 26–A long drive to Nashville

It’s Zack again. Today I awoke to having Isaac’s phone and it’s wonderful math-problem alarm clock thrown at me. We were planning on waking up at 6:00 but when I looked at the alarm (which I had heard for the first time just then) I realized we had managed to sleep until 7:00. After rushing out of bed and convincing Isaac to wake up we joined my grandparents for a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and grapefruit.

After saying our goodbyes and taking a couple of pictures with my family we drove off leaving Oklahoma in the dust. The day was a long one. I drove from my grandparents house, all the way through Arkansas, with one stop for gas, and then into Memphis, TN. There aren’t a lot of details of the day to elaborate on. Most of what we saw was the road and trees (there are a lot more here than in Utah). We passed over the Mississippi River and finally got a picture of a “Welcome to ..” sign as we entered Tennessee. We stopped in Tennessee for a lunch of turkey and cheese sandwiches.

I had driven eight hours when we got to Memphis so I was exhausted and let Isaac (who is getting much better at driving stick) drive the rest of the way to Nashville. I’m not sure if anything interesting happened on that leg of the trip; I was sleeping for the most part, but I was told that we followed “Music Highway” through miles of unimposing traffic.

The only slightly out of place even of the day was Isaac using his abilities as an eighteen-year old. He decided to buy a lottery ticket and struck gold! He won two dollars for a total profit of one dollar. I’d say 100% interest isn’t bad for absolutely no work.

Eventually we got to Nashville and found Logan and Abbey Shields apartment, where we will stay for the next couple of nights. They made us a pizza for dinner and afterwards we sat and talked about school, our future plans, and the mission field. And that was our active but steady day.

 

Interesting Observations:

We drove by the apparent home-place of both Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith (I don’t know what the name of the town was and Isaac’s asleep so I can’t ask him). If you didn’t know Arkansas and Tennessee like country music, let me be the first to warn you that they do.

We ran across some interesting Names throughout Arkansas. One particularly amusing one was “Lotawatah” which sounds just like Lot of water with an accent. It actually set a pretty good title for the rest of the drive, there was water everywhere.

Apparently Memphis decided Egypt has something interesting going on because there is a huge Pyramid downtown.

 

April 25 -- OKC

Upon awakening this morning in the playhouse of Zack’s grandparents’ house in Oklahoma City, I came to the shocking realization that I didn’t want to wake up yet. So, I dismissed my alarm and fell back asleep. Around 8:20am, Zack’s grandpa came and knocked at the door, wondering why we were sleeping in so incredibly late (I’m guessing he must be a morning person). Following his advice, we got up, and got ready for the morning. For breakfast, Zack’s grandparents cooked us sausage, eggs, and biscuits (it was delicious). We then took our first showers since leaving, which was a clean relief.

After a brief pause to decide where we wanted to go for the day, we set off for the main region of Oklahoma City. Before heading downtown, we decided to make a few stops. First, we went to the National Softball Hall of Fame.

It was only $3 to enter after the student discount, so we decided to walk around it a bit. It was pretty enjoyable (for me anyways), as we got to see bios of great softball players of the past (ok, not exciting as baseball or football, but still cool), a lot of memorabilia from the Olympic champion USA softball teams, and a map of the US where we could put a pin in our city if we played softball (I proudly put the sole pin into Ogden, UT. Represent!).

Following that museum, we saw a museum across the street honoring firefighters worldwide. While we didn’t go in, we did walk around the Wall of Valor, naming fallen firefighters.

After leaving there, we heading for our second planned destination: the World of Wings Pigeon Center.

It was closed though, so we only got to peek in from the outside. We were having a fun, lively morning thus far, but our next stop slowed the pace significantly.

From our last stop, we drove to downtown OKC to visit the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. We spent a couple hours walking around the site, looking at the singed bark of Survivor Tree (a large elm tree that stands in the once parking lot at the location of the bombing), the charred portions of wall still remaining from the blast, and the 168 metallic chairs representing all of the people killed in the bombing on April 19, 1995. Being the first major terrorist attacks on American soil, it’s a major piece of Oklahoman history. Just outside of the main memorial, there was a chain-link fence that contains pictures of loved ones lost and toys to be given to the children lost in the attack. Because pictures are much more effective then words, we posted a lot more pictures into the Oklahoma City photo album.

		Oklahoma City Memorial VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After leaving the memorial, we walked back to the car with 10 minutes of parking to spare, so we sat down and had a tasty lunch of turkey sandwiches, RC cola, and fruit snacks. Being only 3:30pm, we decided to take a little journey throughout the town. Through the many, many red lights we hit (luckily Zack was driving), we got a good look at downtown OKC. One of my favorite portions was aptly named “Bricktown.” All of the buildings in this district (including a ballpark) were made of an aesthetically appealing red color, spanning a few blocks. Included in this district were things like restaurants, convention centers, museums, and a library. Afterwards, we drove on a little further, coming upon the Oklahoma Capitol building. Seeing that the building was open, we decided to park and have a look around.


We walked in through a side door (the main steps were closed off), passed through security, perused the gift shop, and walked up the marble steps to the center of the building. Looking up, we could see the inside of the dome, with the state seal on top. Hearing a lot of voices coming from a floor upstairs, Zack and I decided to investigate. We walked up a couple floors to find a barrage of people in formal business attire walking every which way. Considering most were exiting from a doorway titled Senate Chamber, we figured that a state senate session had just adjourned. Feeling very out of place, we walked around looking at the decorations and interesting items for a little longer, then walked back out of the building.
Around the back of the senate building, we saw a ring of flags surrounding a raised garden, so we walked over to find a garden symbolizing peace between the natives of America and its current predominant residents. We then strolled around a bit longer, finally heading back to the car, and back to Zack’s grandparents’ house. They served us spaghetti and salad, a very welcomed meal on our part.
Throughout most of the day, the skies were overcast, with light rain off and on (and a few patches of sunlight every once in a while). Unless halted by uncontrollable circumstances, tonight will be our last night in OKC, before we hit the road once again.



Interesting Observations:
-It was not until today that I realized the roots of the word “suburban,” seeing a sign with it hyphenated “sub-urban,” rather then the typical pronunciation of “su-burban.”
-Speed limits in Oklahoma (and much of Kansas) have been odd for us, ending in zeros (such as many 60 and 70 mph highways) instead of the typical 5’s. However, school zones near where we’re staying are 25mph when flashing, rather then the 20mph found back at home.
-After walking around the back of the Capitol Building, Zack and I came up with a motto for our trip. It reads: “’What’s that?’ ‘I don’t know but let’s go find out!’”