There Really Is No Place Like Home

I’m finally home!! I got here last night at 10 after driving eleven hours from Ohio. I told my parents that I would be home today, then I snuck in the driveway with no lights on and managed to get all the way to the library, where they were watching the game, without being noticed. My mom claims that I didn’t scare her when I yelled “boo!”, but she jumped pretty high, and then yelled, “you’re in Pennsylvania!”

My trip was good, and I’m really happy that I did it, but it’s so nice to be home. The coasts, Wyoming, and Montana are great, but I don’t know why anyone would live anywhere else in the country. It’s all very interesting to see, but basically it’s flat and there are no people. Kansas is windy, and there were a lot of tumbleweeds in Colorado.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do now that I’m home, but I think I’ll take a few days off before I start worrying. Amazingly, I got through the whole trip without one ticket, accident, or scratch in my car.

Nights spent away from home: 41
Amount spent on gas: $1143.89
Number of miles driven: 9745.71

Seeing the country: priceless


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10/18/2007

I did mean to put pictures from my visit with Nichole and Elliott, but I forgot the other day.

I’m pretty much doing nothing but driving now, trying to got home as soon as possible. I drove from Colorado Springs, CO to Junction City, KS today, which is 460 miles. Kansas basically sucks, unless you like long, flat, straight roads. The one cool thing was that it was really windy and there were tons of tumbleweeds, which we don’t have too many of in CT. When I got out of my car to get gas I felt like Dorothy, it was crazy. It started to rain towards the end of my drive, so I stopped earlier than planned, because the combination of rain and dark makes it really hard to see. I’m going to attempt to make it home in three days, but that obviously might not happen.

10/17/2007

Today sucked. I started driving at 10:30 Pacific time and stopped at 9:30 Mountain time. That’s 10 hours, and I didn’t make it to Denver. I’m in Colorado Springs and I have no idea what Colorado looks like because the sun set shortly before I entered the state. I know I sound really whiny, but I’m very sleepy. Tomorrow will be a better day, and to quote Dean Koontz, “there’s always cake.”

10/16/2007

I’m sure you’ve all missed my ramblings so lucky for you I’m back! I left Nichole’s house this morning and drove to Las Cruces, NM. It sucked to leave, I had a really good time there and I was really enjoying not driving every day. However, I really want to be home and unfortunately I have to drive there. I wish I could fly home and hire someone to drive my car there.

New Mexico is pretty much exactly like Arizona. I went to the White Sand National Monument today, which was really amazing. I heard that it was stupid, but I thought it was absolutely beautiful. When you are out in the dunes it looks like mountains of snow. I watched the sunset from the dunes, then headed back to Las Cruces, where my hotel is. The hotel is disgusting and the bed is like a board, which makes me miss Nichole’s house and want to go home even more. Tomorrow I’m going to try to go to Denver, which is a 10 hour drive, so I might not make it all the way.

10/11/2007

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I got to Nichole and Elliott's house on Tuesday. On the way here I went to Sedona, wihch is sooo amazing. It's just beautiful, but I didn't really feel the whole vortex thing, which is what it's famous for. It took me about 5 hours to get from there to Fort Huachuca, mostly because I hit traffic in Pheonix. It's so nice to be here, and really good to see both of them. I'm staying here until Tuesday, so I probably won't post until Wednesday. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Go Sox!

10/08/2007

I just have to get this out of my system…

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YANKEES SUCK!!!!! GO SOX!!!!!

Sorry dad and Pat, it had to be done.

I am really tired, I drove from 9:30 to 6 today. Most of the drive was desert, which is not that exciting. I can’t believe how dry it is here, I actually feel compelled to drink water. I’m in Arizona and I’m so excited, because I get to go to my bestest friend’s house tomorrow!! Before I go there, I’m going to Sedona, I hear it’s really cool there. Oh man, I gotta do it one more time….

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Bet you feel stupid now Johnny Damon, you traitorous piece of Yankee crap!!! Hey, Jeter, have fun watching the World Series…FROM YOUR COUCH!!!

10/07/2007

It is so warm in LA. From what I hear, it’s pretty warm in New England too. Today Tesse, Mike, and I had lunch and did a little more shopping. Then I had coffee with my friend, Josh, who I went to school with in New York and who has become a successful actor. It was so good to see him. We were walking down the street and someone recognized him from one of his shows. It was really cool, I felt a little like a celeb! We went to a gelato place and sampled almost every flavor before deciding, they were all so good. When I got back to Tesse’s we made dinner, which was carne asada tacos, it was really yummy. I wish we had carne in CT, I’ll have to figure out how to make it. Tomorrow I’m going to Flagstaff, AZ, which is about 8 hours from here.

10/06/2007

Today was really fun, we drove around LA, and I really got to see it all. I saw Koreatown, Beverly Hills, Mulholland Dr, and Hermosa Beach. It’s all really cool, but there are definitely bad parts. Hermosa Beach is really cool, and I could definitely imagine living there if I could ever afford it. Tesse and I went to the mall and the grocery while Mike watched football. I drove, which is always interesting in the city. The GPS is great, but I really need to learn to pay attention to what it’s telling me. I got a monkey at the grocery, he’s gonna ride shotgun for the rest of my trip. His name is Joey. Tomorrow I’m having coffee with a friend from New York and Monday I’m hanging out with a friend from middle school.

10/05/2007

I got to LA today. It took me a long time to get here because I stopped a few times. I went outlet shopping on the way, which was fun. I am really proud of myself because I only bought one thing for me. Traffic coming into the LA area was surprisingly light, amazing considering how much you hear about LA traffic. I got to Tesse’s around 5:30 and we went to a bar for drinks and dinner. I met her boyfriend, Mike, and he’s very cool. Tomorrow we’re going to tour LA and go to the beach!

Blogger is poo...

One more thing...I'm hearing that a lot of people are having trouble writing comments. I'm sorry about that, blogger is a Google program, so blame them. Thanks for reading though, and if you need to get in touch with me, my e-mail is morgankholland@yahoo.com

10/04/2007

I love San Luis Obispo! I had a really good day today. I had a yummy breakfast at Denny’s (sorry Jon), then I went to the hotel I wanted to stay in, but it was closed, so I found a different one. I was going to walk around, but I was feeling lazy, so I hung out in my room and watched TV for a while. I decided that I was really in need of a massage, so I called my mom and begged a little. I had the bestest massage ever, thanks mom!! After that I came back to my room, took a hot shower and headed to the farmers’ market. It was really awesome, there are bands on each block, all the shops are open, and there is a bunch of food. I had a piece of pizza and ice cream from Cold Stone. I bought a new bag because I’m getting sick of my old one, and it’s really dirty. As much as I love it here, tomorrow I’m going to LA, which I’m sure will be fun too!

10/03/2007

I drove from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo today. The drive was really pretty, lots of curvy mountain roads. There is a beach on the way where elephant seals go to hang out. It’s really cool, when I got there I thought they were all dead, but they were just sleeping. There was a “Friends of the elephant seal” docent there who answered all of my stupid questions about seals. Some fun facts: males live up to 15 years and females live up to 20 years. When seals lie on the beach, they use their fins to throw sand on themselves because it keeps them cool. I was very surprised at how big they are, the guy told me how big they get, but I can’t remember.

Tonight I’m staying at a KOA in Santa Margarita, which is about 30 minutes from San Luis Obispo. It’s cool because it’s on the side of a mountain, but it’s very dusty. I met a woman from New Zealand who is traveling around the West coast with her daughter. It was really fu8n to talk to her, mostly because she has a really cool accent. Tomorrow I’m going to spend the day in San Luis Obispo, they have a farmers’ market at night, which I’ve been told is really cool.

10/02/2007

I finally made it to San Francisco! Thanks to everyone who responded in helping me get Mike’s number.

I made it to the city in about 45 minutes, with only one minor traffic jam. Mike was nice enough to let me park in his garage for the day and night, so I don’t get ticketed or towed. He showed me the good places to go and explained the bus system to me (the “Muni” in San Franciscan.) I took off and managed to find the bus with only a little confusion as to which one I was supposed to be on. My first stop was Fisherman’s Wharf, a touristy but cool area. I had a bowl of New England clam chowder (I find that a little weird, can’t they come up with their own chowder??) It was pretty good, considering that I’m about as far from New England as I can get!

After that, I walked to North Beach, which is not a beach. It’s a neighborhood that was very bohemian in it’s day. It’s still really cool though, I went to City Lights Bookstore, a very famous beat generation store. It’s really impressive, my favorite part was definitely the anarchy and muckraking section. I was getting a little tired from all the walking, so I decided to get a coffee, always a bad idea when I’m wearing white. Four short blocks later, I looked like a homeless person…I should have emptied my cup and made some money…maybe next time.

After having walked a lot, I decided to go back to Fisherman’s Wharf and enjoy the beautiful California day in the park. In order to find the bus, I went into Chinatown, which is much less scary and fish-filled than the one in New York. I made it back to the Wharf, where I decided I should buy a t-shirt so I wouldn’t look like a vagrant. I must say, my $4 tourist shirt is far better than my $20 hobo shirt.

I relaxed and read for a few hours, then headed back to Mike and Mindy’s place. We had a nice dinner, and watched TV, definitely my idea of a good night. They’ve offered me their couch, which I gladly accepted, and in the morning I’ll be moving on.

10/01/2007

Wow, I can’t believe it’s October already, almost Christmas! This morning I went to a place called Glass Beach, in Fort Bragg. It’s so cool. It was a dump a long time ago, and the whole beach is covered with sea glass. You have to climb down a cliff to get to it, but it’s so worth it. I collected a bunch and I’m hoping I can figure out how to drill holes in it to make jewelry. The drive down the coast was awesome, the roads are really windy and a lot of them are high up on cliffs over the water. Some parts were a little scary, but mostly it was just beautiful.

Tonight I’m staying in Petaluma, which is somewhere near San Francisco. I made a fire at my campsite for the first time, so that was a fun little adventure. I also set up my tent for the first time, which I thought would be really hard, but it wasn’t too bad.

Tomorrow I’m headed to San Francisco, hopefully to see my cousin Mike and his wife Mindy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to e-mailing him till yesterday, so I hope I hear from him! If anyone has his phone number, please give it to me!!

9/30/2007

Thanks so much, Kirk & Sue for having me, it was really great to see you!

Today I drove down the coast to Fort Bragg. Once the rain stopped it was a really nice drive. I had a coupon for a hotel, but when I went there and saw it and the people running it, I decided to spend more and stay somewhere better. The place I’m in is nice, there are six small villa style buildings which each have four rooms in them. The only thing that sucks is that you have to unlock two doors to get in, and the front door is really hard to open. I went to a local Italian restaurant that was recommended by the innkeeper as the best. It was okay, which really makes me question their standards. I don’t know yet where I’m going tomorrow, I’ll see where the day takes me.

9/29/2007

Today was nice and relaxing. I got up and took the dog for a walk, which was really nice. Then I spent some time making cards; I don’t think I should have done that because I could see myself getting really into it.

Kirk took me to the local casino in the afternoon. We are really spoiled in CT. I’m so used to a casino being huge, it’s so funny to see how little most of them are. It was fun though, once you’re sitting at the slot machine, you don’t really notice how small it is.

We had dinner at a local restaurant and I had really good fish & chips. When we got home, Sue and I had a really long talk, which was nice because I’ve never spent time alone with her before. It’s nice to get to know your relatives. It’s been fun to spend time with both of them. Tomorrow I’m moving on, Kirk said I should go to Fort Bragg (CA, not NC) so I think I’ll do that.