Day nine, July 17, 2011
I know, I know, you don't have to tell me, I've been slacking. I'm sorry I let you all down and didn't provide any entertainment for the past two days. You had to have known that Vegas was going to be quite the interruption. So ladies and gentlemen, put on your seat belts and enjoy the ride! =D
The day has finally arrived!!!! Vegas tonight baby!! We are all anticipating the bright lights and twenty four hour non stop partying, but first we must finish experiencing Arizona. We began the day with a river raft tour of the Colorado River. To Matt's surprise there were no white caps, no helmets or life jackets, and no hazardous conditions. The raft rode peacefully through the river at a gentle pace. Too bad he boasted about his "White Water Rafting" tour to all his friends. We weren't sure if Matt booked his own rafting trip without informing us. Sadly, he jumped to conclusions when he heard it was a "raft" tour. In order to reach the beginning of the river tour we had to board a bus and travel through a tunnel to the bottom of the canyon. Traveling at about fifteen miles an hour, it took approximately five minutes to reach the end of the pitch black tunnel. Now, I'm pretty sure a PhD is not required to estimate the length of the tunnel. Apparently, in Matt's case it is. For all of you who know Matt, I'm sure you can hear him in your head when reading this next quote. "I'd say the tunnel was probably about 500 feet long. Yes, 500 feet sounds about right". Five hundred feet my ass!! Lord knows the tunnel was longer than two football fields. Maybe this was a "ya had to be there moment" but the three musketeers got a nice laugh out of that one. (Michael Richard, you would have died if you'd been there. I hope you at least got a chuckle from that comment!).
Of course, we made friends with people on our raft! This time, they didn't realize we were friends. As soon as we boarded the raft, J leaned over to me and whispered "I'm calling it right now, I am not going to like that woman". Low and behold, she didn't, especially after the third asinine question rolled off her tongue before leaving the dock. J and I decided we must name the family, and name them we did! The dad was easy; J didn't even think twice about Earl. Mama bear on the other hand was difficult to pin point. We started with Frances, then moved onto Abigail and finally, the deal was sealed with Bertha. Oh Big Bertha, hair-cut straight out of the 80s-mullet style- cut off t shirt, and thunder thighs galore, she became our entertainment for the remainder of the morning. Bertha and Earl were proud parents of four little ducklings, Hank, Frances, Abigail (also known as Abby), and last but not least Tiny Tim. What an interesting family we encountered. Jen and I giggled like two flaming homosexuals for the majority of the first half of the tour. People watching is a fond pastime of ours. Astonishingly, we heard Bertha call out to one of her ducklings "Abby, stop it!", we were right on the money with that one. Tim, our captain, (not to be confused with Tiny Tim), was not much of a fan of Bertha and co either. After a dozen or so stupid questions that he could only answer in a deadpan tone, I believe Bertha got the hint that she should keep her questions and comments to herself. It is unfortunate that we didn't become real friends with Bertha and family because we were poorly prepared for our journey down the Colorado River. Every person on our raft had sandwiches, snacks, and/or water packed. The only thing we brought was ourselves and the camera. We also did not prepare for the temperature either. Arising to 80 degree, weather, we assumed shorts and t shirts/tank tops would be appropriate attire. We forgot to think about the fact that we'd be a thousand feet deep in a canyon where sunlight does not always hit, surrounded by 47 degree water and on a raft. We were shivering our tushes off!
After three hours of staring at rocks, clay and shrubbery- I mean, really awesome rocks, clay and shrubbery- we took our famished selves to lunch. Zapata's mexican and Italian restaurant was our choice and it did not disappoint. Kel, our enthusiastic waiter, convinced us that Mexican was the way to go, especially because complimentary chips and salsa were served. Kel was a huge fan of the salsa, he kept repeating "I don't know, I think we got the salsa just right! If you have any suggestions on how to better the salsa feel free to throw in your two cents!". I hope that as an employee, Kel receives unlimited salsa. He was a great waiter and might possibly love his job more than Matt loves Herold's. It is a close call and we're still waiting to hear from the judges.
Leftovers packed for a snack later and it was time to head to the Grand Canyon. Besides speed racer Jen taking the wheel for quite some time, it was basically an uneventful ride. After miles and miles of open land, the Grand Canyon fell into our laps out of no where. We finally got to see nature at its finest. Words cannot describe the Grand Canyon. With one wrong step this open pit could swallow you up in the blink of an eye. Being a risk taker and all, I hiked down a small hill and stood out on a rock while Matt watched in horror and came close to soiling his pants. Mom, you can stop worrying because clearly, I live to tell the story! On our way to our next look out, we observed a car looking deep into the woods. They informed us that there was a moose a ways back. We flipped that b*tch and searched for the moose. To our bewilderment, the Colorado natives seemed to confuse an elk with a moose. I may be wrong with this assumption, but if you are from Colorado, shouldn't you know the difference between an elk and a moose?! Just saying... We were ok with seeing the elk, he had quite a rack on him! Speaking of animals, mules are a source of transportation to reach the Colorado River at the bottom of the Canyon. Matt commented that if we to ever voyage down there his mule would not be too fond of him! But then suddenly remembered that Dad rode a mule down to the rivers end and his mule would have no problem accomplishing it. Hmm...I can't say I ever recall Dad riding a mule or traveling down the Grand Canyon. I swear, this kid either has a rapid fire imagination or the most vivid dreams that he convinces himself they are fact. Well, since we are still on the topic of animals, I'd like to supply everyone with a fun fact from Matthew, don't be too concerned if you smell a skunk because it could be up to two miles away. That stank knows how to travel!
We checked a few more things off our bucket list, and with dollar signs in our eyes we booked it to Vegas! I was slaving over the blog in the backseat when I was suddenly blinded by the bright lights of the infamous Las Vegas! I sped through the remainder of the blog in order to be prepared to take it all in. As we approached Las Vegas Boulevard it was love at first sight. I was head over heels for this place they call Sin City and couldn't imagine parting with it. My eyes were glued to the window as I gawked at all of the casinos, hotels, and inebriated people carrying souvenir glasses taller than most toddlers. I must admit, I was quite overwhelmed, and this virgin found her heartbeat quickening by the second.
After touring the strip for the first time, we made it to the hotel, unpacked, changed, and hit the town! How do I even begin to give you the run down of events from our first night. I guess it's best to just start from the beginning, Treasure Island. We entered Kahunaville-yes, Grandpa, a bar named after you!-and $92.00 later we were each departing with a two foot drink in hand. Woah nelly! I suggest we bring "yards" back to Jersey! Snookie would have a field day with those! Vegas, similar to New Orleans, is all about bevs on the street! It's a total free for all and we took advantage. As we were wandering the strip, we passed a lady handing out wrist bands, shouting "free drinks until 4 am!". Well, you must be delusional if you were to pass up that offer. We slapped those wrist bands on and entered Planet Hollywood on a mission. As we approached Koi, with our four empty yards in hand, the host explained to us that only ladies drink for free. Luckily, at this point we were only one yard deep and were still considered "ladies", therefore free drinks still apply. The downfall of this plan was the cover charge, twenty bucks a person and drinks for guys were thirteen dollars a piece!! Since the oh-so-kind lady didn't inform us of the cover charge the host allowed us to only pay for three entry fees. Jen and I approached the bar with pink solo cups in hand, the only cups free drinks were permitted in, and were greeted by the drunk bartender. As we were ordering our drinks, Rob and Matt took a lap around the bar to see what was hopping. It was soon apparent why ladies drink for free. This yeah-big club was not too populated at this time. Oh well, we still had to take advantage of our free drinks and the fact that it cost sixty dollars to enter. We found a small nook where we could quickly pass the drinks off to Rob and Matt who downed them like veterans.
After three rounds, we took our Adios MoFo's (aka an LIT made with blue curaçao, aka death in a cup) and made our way up the strip. There was a destination in mind, but as we are thinking about it today, our memories seem to have escaped us. Oops...New York, New York is where we ended up. Before arriving at NY, NY, Roberto came up with a phrase that needs to be patented ASAP. The term is BOS, standing for Black Out Status. Feel free to spread this far and wide, but do NOT forget where you heard it from originally. Here are a couple of ways "BOS" can be used: "I know I was BOS last night after being informed that I fell asleep on my dog's bed and was convinced it was mine". Or, "The girl with her melon hanging out is hardcore BOS!". We are hoping to make this a worldwide phrase so please do your best to pass this on to children and adults of all ages and races.
The reason this phrase was invented was due to the fact that Jen finished her yard full of long island ice tea along with a couple other drinks and was beginning to get a little hazy. Ricker, our loving cousin, was the lucky winner of our 2 am pacific time phone call. Undoubtedly, he was sleeping, so Robert decided this was voicemail worthy and explained our new term. Because Rick is always on top of his game, he returned our belligerent phone call within minutes and received a mouthful about our Vegas antics thus far. He gave BOS two thumbs up, and after some jibber-jabber decided it was time to go back to sleep, seeing that it was about 5 am eastern standard time. After a couple more casinos I hailed my first taxi ever and began our trip home with Mark, our taxi driver. Matt sat in the front seat and Jen, Rob and I stumbled into the back seat. Little did Robert know when he coined the term "BOS" at the beginning of evening that he would be the one bearing the BOS crown. Window down, and pasty face sticking out, Rob concentrated on keeping the contents of the evening within his stomach. Jen and I entertained Mark on the way back with tales of the evening. His laughter filled the taxi throughout the entire ride home. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we were his favorite riders of the day. We arrived at our hotel and Robert jetted off to the right. "Roberto, what are you doing?" "Oh, don't worry, I'll just meet you upstairs." "Why?! Just come with us". "I just wanna go puke by the bubble real quick!". Needless to say, we would not allow him to blow chunks by the bubble and quickly led him up to the room.
Once in the room, we realized that it was entirely too hot, and we would be unable to sleep in these conditions. Earlier in the evening we had trouble locating the thermostat. Matt advised us that all of the rooms are set to a standard temperature and we must call the front desk in order to change the setting. So, of course, he told us again that we must call the front desk. I put on my professional drunk voice, (the same one used when inquiring about the pool), and called the front desk. "Hi, I'm calling from room 324, now, I know that all of the rooms are kept at the same temperature and I was wondering if you could lower our temperature?". "Ma'am, you control your own thermostat in each individual room, we have no control at the front desk." "Ohhh, ok! Thanks!". Once again, I must have made someone's night and was probably talked about the following day...or maybe five days. We LMAO'ed for a long while when we located the thermostat behind the door.
After the air conditioning fiasco, I decided I had to get out of my outfit and into my pajamas. While attempting to strip my leggings off and trying to convince Matt that I was not drunk, I lost my balance and crashed into my luggage. Leggings at my ankles and flat on my back like a turtle on his shell, I decided I may have had one too many to drink and in fact was quite silly. I was laughing so much I couldn't even get myself up. I was then helped up by Matt and finished changing into pj's. Following this disaster, I moved on into the bathroom. I don't know about anyone else, but I love to have solo photo shoots when I am drunk (or even sober sometimes). Camera in hand I began snapping away. I tend do the kissy face, or sometimes a seductive look, or I show my grills! All of a sudden I was caught! Jen walked in on my one man photo shoot. Naturally she joined in for a few pictures, we are still unsure whether we are going to release those to the public. Upon exiting the bathroom, we are greeted by Robert, snuggled up on the pull out with a Yankees beach towel keeping him warm. Whatever floats your boat Rob, way to use your resources. As far as we can recall, those were the events of evening number one. Stay tuned for day two. Peace, love, and happiness, The Nomads.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Day eight
Day eight, July 16, 2011
Talk about time flying when you're having fun! One week down, one more to go- at least for me! Big ballers over here still have a month left! Hell, if I had the entire summer off or was being paid by Obama I presume I would hop on the band wagon as well! Just kidding guys, you work your tushes off and deserve all of this and more! I'm sure we will always remember this road trip -minus New Orleans and I'm positive Las Vegas-and talk about it for years to come. I, for one, look forward to scrapbooking! Two memory cards full of pictures and a head full of our own memories will definitely make for a lengthy and priceless scrapbook.
Another sunrise, another cock-a-doodle-doo, another continental breakfast, and time to say Adios to our amigos in New Mexico. It was a brief stay in New Mexico, but from what we were told, New Mexico is almost as exciting as Wyoming, aka find somewhere else to go site seeing. Jeffrita made our stay worthwhile after a quick flick of the power, she approached a fellow employee and inquired about what had just occurred. After understanding that it was merely a reboot of power she confessed she was relieved, she thought she might have been tripping. Who knows, maybe in New Mexico they do those sort of things...
Next destination was Page, Arizona, but not without scenic routes and pitstops on the way. Running our normal half an hour behind, the boys hurriedly packed the clown car, Jen and I crammed into the back seat and we set off on our journey. Mesa Verde National Park (translation: Green Table) was our first scenic route. It was quite the sight to see after staring out the window at wide open nothingness for the previous three or so hours. Things we were informed to be aware of included: falling rocks, bears and leaving boulders in their designated places. Undoubtedly, the first thing I wanted to do was show off my super strength and toss some boulders around but to my surprise the rule book said no! Instead we decided to take lots of pictures and a few videos. The views were absolutely amazing; it's so peaceful up in the mountains, all I wanted to do was grab my book, my iPod and a blanket and spend the day right there. Yes, yes, Belle brought books with her! Do you expect anything less?? Unfortunately, our road trip rules are similar to the No Child Left Behind Act, so I didn't even bother asking if I could book worm it up. We traveled higher and higher up the mountain and could feel the air pressure dropping and our ears popping. The bag of Lay's potato chips could barely handle the pressure and came close to popping as well! Eight thousand five hundred seventy feet elevated and we hit the highest point of the park! Here is where we found out a fun fact about Matt, he is afraid of heights! Heights smheights! Take a risk baby!
Next stop: pueblos and wigwams! I felt like I was back in sixth grade in Mrs. Peterson's social studies class taking notes via the over head projector. Little did I know, years ago, when studying about the indigenous people of Arizona, that I would be in the presence of their miraculous structures! Robert, being an engineer, was as giddy as a school girl to see structures dating back as far as 1200 AD! On our way down to the pueblos, we were all a little weary about the trek back up. Jen Of course suggested an elevator or escalator be added with a $5.00 lifting fee. I'm sure the Indians would be delighted about that addition. On our way down, our photographer spotted a few wild flowers and of course took professional close ups. Finally we made it down to the pueblos. The intricacy used while building and sculpting them could still be seen all these centuries later! The Puebloans must have been a very patient group of settlers. There were stairs, shelves, beds, ceremonials rooms and elegant carvings. The ceremonial room was underground! There was a wooden ladder that led down to this room that, according to the park ranger, could fit up to forty-five people. Forty-five people my ass! Maybe forty five midgets stacked up on each other! What were all Puebloans anorexic?! After exiting the ceremonial room that was smaller than my bathroom, we made the trek back up. Oh wait, another fun fact about Matt, he is apparently immune to poison ivy. Hmm..now how does one go about figuring this out? Unbeknownst to me, I suggested Matt roll around in it, trial and error. He was touching every bush on the way down and testing their scents. His favorite was the skunk bush, he just kept smelling his hand after that one... Sometimes I wonder...
Back in the car with my cranky pants half way on I was in need of any type of food ASAP! The next stop was the Four Corners and of course there was not a restaurant, fast food place or even hot dog stand in sight. I was losing my cool very quickly, but I just put my nose in my book and hoped the time would go by lickety-split. I started to feel a bit better when Jen searched on her GPS and noticed there were about fifteen chain restaurants around the four corners. I'd prefer anything besides chain but at this point beggars can't be choosers. To my dismay, an "uh oh" was uttered a few minutes later. Jen searched restaurants in the four corners area but clicked on the link for restaurants in New Mexico. My hopes skyrocketed and plummeted in a matter of minutes. Back to the drawing board it was. The Four Corners upon us and after $3 per passenger we were ready to cross this off our bucket lists. We walk into the monument and sweet baby Jesus, there IS A GOD!!! In the back corner, a yellow banner with red lettering bares the words Navajo Taco! I don't care what it looks like, tastes like, or smells like, I just need something in my system before I got kicked off the Roadtrip! The Angel on my shoulder said don't do it! You are going to regret it! The devil looked me in the eye and said eat the damn Navajo taco, so I did. It wasn't until that taco wrapped in fry bread was inhabiting our stomachs for hours that I realized the Angel on my shoulder was actually Face and he was whispering "avoid burrito stands at all cost". Once again Face, point to you.
After bending over backwards to position myself in four states at once, and then positioning each of us in a different state we set off for Monument Valley for a hot second. There were various monuments made out of eroded clay and sandstone that mimicked shapes such as an elephant, mittens and a thumb. It was interesting to see because these monuments were not manmade! Finalllllly we had enough of the scenery and bought a one way ticket to Page, Arizona! Thanks to Jeff Gordon, we picked up a little bit of time and made it to the Dam Bar and Grill minutes before the kitchen closed. Luckily, I know how to speak waiter talk and was able to schmooze our waitress over into not caring that we walked in so late. She was originally from Georgia, she was an easy one. Thankfully she made the mistake of ordering wings instead of boneless wings, I told her it was the best mistake she made all night. Good news! The ABC app was working last night and J and I were able to watch One Life to Live and General Hospital, you can assume there were no complaints about the day. Peace, love and happiness, The Nomads! <3
Talk about time flying when you're having fun! One week down, one more to go- at least for me! Big ballers over here still have a month left! Hell, if I had the entire summer off or was being paid by Obama I presume I would hop on the band wagon as well! Just kidding guys, you work your tushes off and deserve all of this and more! I'm sure we will always remember this road trip -minus New Orleans and I'm positive Las Vegas-and talk about it for years to come. I, for one, look forward to scrapbooking! Two memory cards full of pictures and a head full of our own memories will definitely make for a lengthy and priceless scrapbook.
Another sunrise, another cock-a-doodle-doo, another continental breakfast, and time to say Adios to our amigos in New Mexico. It was a brief stay in New Mexico, but from what we were told, New Mexico is almost as exciting as Wyoming, aka find somewhere else to go site seeing. Jeffrita made our stay worthwhile after a quick flick of the power, she approached a fellow employee and inquired about what had just occurred. After understanding that it was merely a reboot of power she confessed she was relieved, she thought she might have been tripping. Who knows, maybe in New Mexico they do those sort of things...
Next destination was Page, Arizona, but not without scenic routes and pitstops on the way. Running our normal half an hour behind, the boys hurriedly packed the clown car, Jen and I crammed into the back seat and we set off on our journey. Mesa Verde National Park (translation: Green Table) was our first scenic route. It was quite the sight to see after staring out the window at wide open nothingness for the previous three or so hours. Things we were informed to be aware of included: falling rocks, bears and leaving boulders in their designated places. Undoubtedly, the first thing I wanted to do was show off my super strength and toss some boulders around but to my surprise the rule book said no! Instead we decided to take lots of pictures and a few videos. The views were absolutely amazing; it's so peaceful up in the mountains, all I wanted to do was grab my book, my iPod and a blanket and spend the day right there. Yes, yes, Belle brought books with her! Do you expect anything less?? Unfortunately, our road trip rules are similar to the No Child Left Behind Act, so I didn't even bother asking if I could book worm it up. We traveled higher and higher up the mountain and could feel the air pressure dropping and our ears popping. The bag of Lay's potato chips could barely handle the pressure and came close to popping as well! Eight thousand five hundred seventy feet elevated and we hit the highest point of the park! Here is where we found out a fun fact about Matt, he is afraid of heights! Heights smheights! Take a risk baby!
Next stop: pueblos and wigwams! I felt like I was back in sixth grade in Mrs. Peterson's social studies class taking notes via the over head projector. Little did I know, years ago, when studying about the indigenous people of Arizona, that I would be in the presence of their miraculous structures! Robert, being an engineer, was as giddy as a school girl to see structures dating back as far as 1200 AD! On our way down to the pueblos, we were all a little weary about the trek back up. Jen Of course suggested an elevator or escalator be added with a $5.00 lifting fee. I'm sure the Indians would be delighted about that addition. On our way down, our photographer spotted a few wild flowers and of course took professional close ups. Finally we made it down to the pueblos. The intricacy used while building and sculpting them could still be seen all these centuries later! The Puebloans must have been a very patient group of settlers. There were stairs, shelves, beds, ceremonials rooms and elegant carvings. The ceremonial room was underground! There was a wooden ladder that led down to this room that, according to the park ranger, could fit up to forty-five people. Forty-five people my ass! Maybe forty five midgets stacked up on each other! What were all Puebloans anorexic?! After exiting the ceremonial room that was smaller than my bathroom, we made the trek back up. Oh wait, another fun fact about Matt, he is apparently immune to poison ivy. Hmm..now how does one go about figuring this out? Unbeknownst to me, I suggested Matt roll around in it, trial and error. He was touching every bush on the way down and testing their scents. His favorite was the skunk bush, he just kept smelling his hand after that one... Sometimes I wonder...
Back in the car with my cranky pants half way on I was in need of any type of food ASAP! The next stop was the Four Corners and of course there was not a restaurant, fast food place or even hot dog stand in sight. I was losing my cool very quickly, but I just put my nose in my book and hoped the time would go by lickety-split. I started to feel a bit better when Jen searched on her GPS and noticed there were about fifteen chain restaurants around the four corners. I'd prefer anything besides chain but at this point beggars can't be choosers. To my dismay, an "uh oh" was uttered a few minutes later. Jen searched restaurants in the four corners area but clicked on the link for restaurants in New Mexico. My hopes skyrocketed and plummeted in a matter of minutes. Back to the drawing board it was. The Four Corners upon us and after $3 per passenger we were ready to cross this off our bucket lists. We walk into the monument and sweet baby Jesus, there IS A GOD!!! In the back corner, a yellow banner with red lettering bares the words Navajo Taco! I don't care what it looks like, tastes like, or smells like, I just need something in my system before I got kicked off the Roadtrip! The Angel on my shoulder said don't do it! You are going to regret it! The devil looked me in the eye and said eat the damn Navajo taco, so I did. It wasn't until that taco wrapped in fry bread was inhabiting our stomachs for hours that I realized the Angel on my shoulder was actually Face and he was whispering "avoid burrito stands at all cost". Once again Face, point to you.
After bending over backwards to position myself in four states at once, and then positioning each of us in a different state we set off for Monument Valley for a hot second. There were various monuments made out of eroded clay and sandstone that mimicked shapes such as an elephant, mittens and a thumb. It was interesting to see because these monuments were not manmade! Finalllllly we had enough of the scenery and bought a one way ticket to Page, Arizona! Thanks to Jeff Gordon, we picked up a little bit of time and made it to the Dam Bar and Grill minutes before the kitchen closed. Luckily, I know how to speak waiter talk and was able to schmooze our waitress over into not caring that we walked in so late. She was originally from Georgia, she was an easy one. Thankfully she made the mistake of ordering wings instead of boneless wings, I told her it was the best mistake she made all night. Good news! The ABC app was working last night and J and I were able to watch One Life to Live and General Hospital, you can assume there were no complaints about the day. Peace, love and happiness, The Nomads! <3
Friday, July 15, 2011
Day seven
Day seven, July 15, 2011
Top 'o the morning to ya! After a night of Whataburger, photo shoots and a restless night of sleep, we were up and adam at 6:30 am ready to welcome Matt to the road trip. We were very careful when packing the car today, as we knew we would need to have enough room to fit four. Breakfast was not necessary this morning seeing as Whataburger was still residing in our stomachs. No more late night meals, they do not go over too well the following morning.
As prepared as we could be, we set off on our longest journey yet, Albuquerque, New Mexico, twelve and a half hours. There were a couple scenic routes added in, which resulted in the twelve plus hour trip; but when were we ever going to be out this way again? The sights were unbelievable, Oklahoma just goes on and on and on. When we reached the top of the first mountain, it was immensely peaceful and quiet. We soaked it all in and avoided the edges at all costs. We weren't leaving one man down! Along the way down we spotted, buffalo and long horn cattle. We seriously felt like we were on an African Safari, or at Animal Kingdom!
On our way to the second scenic byway, there was a cow sighting! There were approximately thirty cows ranging in age and each and everyone stared at us as we snapped away. Sadly, there was one cow that could not bare the heat and we saw the remainder of its carcass; some other animal had a field day when they encountered that beast. Before driving away, Jen and I took videos of the cows, they kept moo-ing at us, possibly saying "mooooove". How rude! Lucky for them it was time to go anyway. One other eventful thing that happened today was the TP was finally broken into! In the middle of no where I couldn't hold it any longer!
As we made our way through the abandoned towns and rolling pastures, we finally arrived at our next pit stop, "The Big Texan", home of the 72 ounce steak challenge! We figured between the three of us, we'd be able to finish the steak and sides included but were told if it is split, the meal would cost over $200!! If a single person attacked this beast, it would only cost $72 if not finished and free if said person could tackle the battle, or should I say cattle. Jen and I convinced Robert that he should do it! Free T-shirt, 28 ounce souvenir cup, live video footage online and a table all to himself to feast on, who could turn down the offer! We prepped Rob as best we could as he was signing the waiver that was required before competing. In an hour he was to consume 72 ounces of steak, three fried shrimp, a baked potato, a side salad and a dinner roll! All of this must also be done without getting up from the table, no bathroom breaks, no laps around the restaurant and especially no puking! Holy moly, I couldn't even finished my 18 ounce steak!! The waiter announced his name and the rules and Rob dug in! After fifty minutes of trying his hardest to expand his stomach, he raised the white flag and called it a day. Our waitress took his steak to the back to weigh it, upon returning, we were informed that Robert consumed 45.5 ounces of red meat! Out of everything in front of him the only thing left was 26.5 ounces of beef! He champed that out, and then we rolled him on out to the car. Looking about three months prego, Robert was in a food coma for a while and is still not sure when the next time he will consume steak is. With approximately 35 ounces of steak and the remaining strawberry shortcake wrapped up, we headed towards Albuquerque Airport. Bakes, here we come! We'd like to apologize for the boring blog, but please understand we need to prepare ourselves for Las Vegas and everything that comes with it! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Top 'o the morning to ya! After a night of Whataburger, photo shoots and a restless night of sleep, we were up and adam at 6:30 am ready to welcome Matt to the road trip. We were very careful when packing the car today, as we knew we would need to have enough room to fit four. Breakfast was not necessary this morning seeing as Whataburger was still residing in our stomachs. No more late night meals, they do not go over too well the following morning.
As prepared as we could be, we set off on our longest journey yet, Albuquerque, New Mexico, twelve and a half hours. There were a couple scenic routes added in, which resulted in the twelve plus hour trip; but when were we ever going to be out this way again? The sights were unbelievable, Oklahoma just goes on and on and on. When we reached the top of the first mountain, it was immensely peaceful and quiet. We soaked it all in and avoided the edges at all costs. We weren't leaving one man down! Along the way down we spotted, buffalo and long horn cattle. We seriously felt like we were on an African Safari, or at Animal Kingdom!
On our way to the second scenic byway, there was a cow sighting! There were approximately thirty cows ranging in age and each and everyone stared at us as we snapped away. Sadly, there was one cow that could not bare the heat and we saw the remainder of its carcass; some other animal had a field day when they encountered that beast. Before driving away, Jen and I took videos of the cows, they kept moo-ing at us, possibly saying "mooooove". How rude! Lucky for them it was time to go anyway. One other eventful thing that happened today was the TP was finally broken into! In the middle of no where I couldn't hold it any longer!
As we made our way through the abandoned towns and rolling pastures, we finally arrived at our next pit stop, "The Big Texan", home of the 72 ounce steak challenge! We figured between the three of us, we'd be able to finish the steak and sides included but were told if it is split, the meal would cost over $200!! If a single person attacked this beast, it would only cost $72 if not finished and free if said person could tackle the battle, or should I say cattle. Jen and I convinced Robert that he should do it! Free T-shirt, 28 ounce souvenir cup, live video footage online and a table all to himself to feast on, who could turn down the offer! We prepped Rob as best we could as he was signing the waiver that was required before competing. In an hour he was to consume 72 ounces of steak, three fried shrimp, a baked potato, a side salad and a dinner roll! All of this must also be done without getting up from the table, no bathroom breaks, no laps around the restaurant and especially no puking! Holy moly, I couldn't even finished my 18 ounce steak!! The waiter announced his name and the rules and Rob dug in! After fifty minutes of trying his hardest to expand his stomach, he raised the white flag and called it a day. Our waitress took his steak to the back to weigh it, upon returning, we were informed that Robert consumed 45.5 ounces of red meat! Out of everything in front of him the only thing left was 26.5 ounces of beef! He champed that out, and then we rolled him on out to the car. Looking about three months prego, Robert was in a food coma for a while and is still not sure when the next time he will consume steak is. With approximately 35 ounces of steak and the remaining strawberry shortcake wrapped up, we headed towards Albuquerque Airport. Bakes, here we come! We'd like to apologize for the boring blog, but please understand we need to prepare ourselves for Las Vegas and everything that comes with it! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Day six
Day six, July 14, 2011
Howdy partners! Sorry for the delay on the posts, I needed a little break to recuperate from New Orleans! We thought that today's blog was going to be a bit if a bore but don't worry, we found a way to spruce it up last night. After a good nights sleep we headed out early to explore the city of Dallas.
Our first stop was the Book Depository; the location of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. It had to have been one of the best museums we had ever been to. There was so much about JFK that I had never known and it was interesting to watch multiple news segments from decades ago. We were able to see the exact location that Lee Harvey Oswald shot the rifle from and there are even X's painted in the road of where JFK was struck. We learned that the President did not take the route that had been originally planned and instead turned left onto Elm street where the fatal shots took place. If only the parade of cars had continue going straight, United States history could have gone a completely different route. After taking a few pictures on the Grassy Knoll we made our way over to the Dallas World Aquarium to check out some fishies! Funny though, when we got there, it seemed to have a jungle like appearance to it. The second and third floor was mostly populated by birds, monkeys, frogs and various bug life. Hmm...whoever thought to call it an "Aquarium" was certainly off point. On our search for the sea life, we ran into the snack stand and to our surprise there was a mini bar there! I guess in Texas there is always an excuse to drink. Now who jumped to the conclusion that I got a drink?! Nope, I got a virgin piña colada! In your face suckers! Finally we found what we came to see, sharks, manatees and fish! The manatee seemed to be either sleeping or dead... We hoped it was only sleeping otherwise there would be a lot of kids that would be scarred for life! Yes, you guessed it, there was a field to the aquarium on the one day we decide to go. Sure, they were cute kids but I would have much preferred to view the animals and not feel like I was in a McDonald's play place.
Speaking of a McDonald's play place, I just spent the past ten minutes in there in order for you junkies to get your blog fix! So, your welcome! But for real, we appreciate all of your comments and support and look forward to many more! Pass the link on to friends and family, we welcome as many followers as possible! To my original followers, I will be more than happy to sit down for interviews and autographs as soon as my book is published. Holy moly, could you imagine if I go pro?!
Pro schmo, perhaps I should finish the blog before having dreams of becoming famous! After some Dallas explorations we decided to catch some R&R by the pool, rays and relaxation. With it being 113 degrees outside, it was a tad difficult to lay out for more than ten minutes at a time. In and out of the pool we went, so much for relaxation! Before we knew it 5:30 rolled around and free happy hour was about to commence. We prepped ourselves and headed down to the lobby for some house wine and good ol' Gordan's vodka. Little did we know, but once again we were in the presence of an celeb! He is an up and coming musician and unfortunately we didn't catch his name, but he is a relative of Jeff so maybe we will meet him one day. These guys were decked out in white pants, the finest shades and enough gold to pay for our entire road trip! Kenneth, our man at the front desk, wasn't able to provide us with enough information but our Jen's new friend Dave was able to provide us with drinks! Every time it was J's turn to go up and get our next round of drinks, this creepster was always in front of her. Apparently Dave has a 26 year old daughter named Christina and now knows we are traveling to Albuquerque today. Rob and I quickly exchanged glances and decided Santa Fe, New Mexico might be a better idea. On Jen's last trip to retrieve drinks for us she tried to get three but the bartender would only allow her to order two at a time. Hearing this, Dave hurriedly whispers "What's the last drink?? What's the last drink??". Here comes J, bustling over with two vodka cranberries in hand, leaving a trail from the bar to our seats. In tow, Dave was gingerly waking behind her, rum and coke in hand, and a smile as wide as that of the Cheshire Cat. We quickly rid ourselves of Dave and suck back a few more drinks before hitting the town. I'd like to take this time to thank Richard "Ricker" Grofsick for keeping us company throughout happy hour via text. It's always fun to share zoomed in pictures of J with someone who can appreciate a good laugh. Also, Mom, thanks for the drunken entertainment, we hope that business man only grazed your leg one time!
Happy hour came and happy hour stayed! We board the shuttle and made friends with Stacy, a solo San Diego native that gave us tips of activities we should be sure to do while in California. I wondered if we should invite the MILF out with us but I got a closer look before departing the shuttle and realized MILF was not the term for Stacy. Downtown Dallas started off slow and with lots of classic Jersey shore poses. We soon stumbled upon Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill and it was magical! Frozen red bull vodkas, southern cosmopolitans and Texas sweet tea were a few of the drinks we poisoned our livers with. At this point J was approaching blackout status quickly but not before the hiccups snuck up on her and stuck around for a while. We now know that Gordan's vodka is one of J's many downfalls. It was time for a round of shots and holy tolito Texas means business when pouring shots. The waitress approached us with three rocks glasses three quarters of the way full with our delicious shot! Robert took it like a champ, I took it in twos (only because we had said we were going to) and Jennifer, well, let's just say she should stick with Jersey size shots. I helped her polish that baby off, which may be why I later had a one man photo shoot in bed with my cowboy hat and Steve Madden shades. The shuttle finally came to retrieve us and would you believe it, STACY WAS ON THE SHUTTLE!! We were so excited to see our friend again, we even managed to take a picture with her! Stace definitely wasn't as loopy as we were but she threw back a few beverages and joined in on our silly antics. Of course we suggested that the driver drop us off at Whataburger for a late night snack that was much regretted for the majority of the following morning. There was no way we were going to pass up Face's old stomping grounds! You betcha, back in 1982, Michael Lawrence Grofsick was an employee at Whataburger! He was such a dedicated employee, he even received employee of the month! To our misfortune, the lady behind the counter didn't have a record of the employees of the month dating back to the 1980s. Sorry Face, I gave it a valid effort! The sweet little Spanish lady was very patient with our drunkeness and my broken Spanish. I tried my hardest to place our order in Español, apparently I need a little bit more Rosetta Stone than I thought. We finished ordering and rushed back to our hotel room to gobble down some of the best fast food in the nation! We showed Texas how it was done and then we were ready to hit the hay. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Howdy partners! Sorry for the delay on the posts, I needed a little break to recuperate from New Orleans! We thought that today's blog was going to be a bit if a bore but don't worry, we found a way to spruce it up last night. After a good nights sleep we headed out early to explore the city of Dallas.
Our first stop was the Book Depository; the location of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. It had to have been one of the best museums we had ever been to. There was so much about JFK that I had never known and it was interesting to watch multiple news segments from decades ago. We were able to see the exact location that Lee Harvey Oswald shot the rifle from and there are even X's painted in the road of where JFK was struck. We learned that the President did not take the route that had been originally planned and instead turned left onto Elm street where the fatal shots took place. If only the parade of cars had continue going straight, United States history could have gone a completely different route. After taking a few pictures on the Grassy Knoll we made our way over to the Dallas World Aquarium to check out some fishies! Funny though, when we got there, it seemed to have a jungle like appearance to it. The second and third floor was mostly populated by birds, monkeys, frogs and various bug life. Hmm...whoever thought to call it an "Aquarium" was certainly off point. On our search for the sea life, we ran into the snack stand and to our surprise there was a mini bar there! I guess in Texas there is always an excuse to drink. Now who jumped to the conclusion that I got a drink?! Nope, I got a virgin piña colada! In your face suckers! Finally we found what we came to see, sharks, manatees and fish! The manatee seemed to be either sleeping or dead... We hoped it was only sleeping otherwise there would be a lot of kids that would be scarred for life! Yes, you guessed it, there was a field to the aquarium on the one day we decide to go. Sure, they were cute kids but I would have much preferred to view the animals and not feel like I was in a McDonald's play place.
Speaking of a McDonald's play place, I just spent the past ten minutes in there in order for you junkies to get your blog fix! So, your welcome! But for real, we appreciate all of your comments and support and look forward to many more! Pass the link on to friends and family, we welcome as many followers as possible! To my original followers, I will be more than happy to sit down for interviews and autographs as soon as my book is published. Holy moly, could you imagine if I go pro?!
Pro schmo, perhaps I should finish the blog before having dreams of becoming famous! After some Dallas explorations we decided to catch some R&R by the pool, rays and relaxation. With it being 113 degrees outside, it was a tad difficult to lay out for more than ten minutes at a time. In and out of the pool we went, so much for relaxation! Before we knew it 5:30 rolled around and free happy hour was about to commence. We prepped ourselves and headed down to the lobby for some house wine and good ol' Gordan's vodka. Little did we know, but once again we were in the presence of an celeb! He is an up and coming musician and unfortunately we didn't catch his name, but he is a relative of Jeff so maybe we will meet him one day. These guys were decked out in white pants, the finest shades and enough gold to pay for our entire road trip! Kenneth, our man at the front desk, wasn't able to provide us with enough information but our Jen's new friend Dave was able to provide us with drinks! Every time it was J's turn to go up and get our next round of drinks, this creepster was always in front of her. Apparently Dave has a 26 year old daughter named Christina and now knows we are traveling to Albuquerque today. Rob and I quickly exchanged glances and decided Santa Fe, New Mexico might be a better idea. On Jen's last trip to retrieve drinks for us she tried to get three but the bartender would only allow her to order two at a time. Hearing this, Dave hurriedly whispers "What's the last drink?? What's the last drink??". Here comes J, bustling over with two vodka cranberries in hand, leaving a trail from the bar to our seats. In tow, Dave was gingerly waking behind her, rum and coke in hand, and a smile as wide as that of the Cheshire Cat. We quickly rid ourselves of Dave and suck back a few more drinks before hitting the town. I'd like to take this time to thank Richard "Ricker" Grofsick for keeping us company throughout happy hour via text. It's always fun to share zoomed in pictures of J with someone who can appreciate a good laugh. Also, Mom, thanks for the drunken entertainment, we hope that business man only grazed your leg one time!
Happy hour came and happy hour stayed! We board the shuttle and made friends with Stacy, a solo San Diego native that gave us tips of activities we should be sure to do while in California. I wondered if we should invite the MILF out with us but I got a closer look before departing the shuttle and realized MILF was not the term for Stacy. Downtown Dallas started off slow and with lots of classic Jersey shore poses. We soon stumbled upon Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill and it was magical! Frozen red bull vodkas, southern cosmopolitans and Texas sweet tea were a few of the drinks we poisoned our livers with. At this point J was approaching blackout status quickly but not before the hiccups snuck up on her and stuck around for a while. We now know that Gordan's vodka is one of J's many downfalls. It was time for a round of shots and holy tolito Texas means business when pouring shots. The waitress approached us with three rocks glasses three quarters of the way full with our delicious shot! Robert took it like a champ, I took it in twos (only because we had said we were going to) and Jennifer, well, let's just say she should stick with Jersey size shots. I helped her polish that baby off, which may be why I later had a one man photo shoot in bed with my cowboy hat and Steve Madden shades. The shuttle finally came to retrieve us and would you believe it, STACY WAS ON THE SHUTTLE!! We were so excited to see our friend again, we even managed to take a picture with her! Stace definitely wasn't as loopy as we were but she threw back a few beverages and joined in on our silly antics. Of course we suggested that the driver drop us off at Whataburger for a late night snack that was much regretted for the majority of the following morning. There was no way we were going to pass up Face's old stomping grounds! You betcha, back in 1982, Michael Lawrence Grofsick was an employee at Whataburger! He was such a dedicated employee, he even received employee of the month! To our misfortune, the lady behind the counter didn't have a record of the employees of the month dating back to the 1980s. Sorry Face, I gave it a valid effort! The sweet little Spanish lady was very patient with our drunkeness and my broken Spanish. I tried my hardest to place our order in Español, apparently I need a little bit more Rosetta Stone than I thought. We finished ordering and rushed back to our hotel room to gobble down some of the best fast food in the nation! We showed Texas how it was done and then we were ready to hit the hay. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Day five
Day five, July 13, 2011
Woah...as I blinked my contacts back into place, things began to come into focus. The first thing I saw was my half full jack and coke, good job Steph, at least you restrained yourself from sucking the rest of that down. As I rolled myself out of bed next I saw our clothes from the epic night before strewn all over the room. Finally I made it to the bathroom to relieve myself of all the alcohol that was soaking in my bladder throughout the night. As I look around the bathroom I see my jewelry tossed on the countertop, my roll on baby powder uncapped and on the ground and then I make the mistake of looking in the mirror. I came to the conclusion that sunglasses were going to be worn for the majority of the day, even if they were not necessary. I then turn my eyes down to my thighs and memories of the mechanical bull flood my head. Robert believes my capillaries are too thin, I just think I was a little too competitive on the bull. Although Rob and Jen aren't looking like super models this morning, they definitely have a one up on me.
We finish packing up our belongings and head to breakfast. Hopefully a coffee or two will help with this appearance of mine. We debated staying another night but were thankful when the front desk informed us that they were completely booked for the night. I think that was a sign from God that New Orleans had had enough of us and it was time to move our path of destruction through Dallas. So instead we packed up Bubble Cobalt and headed to the Moonwalk to check out the Mississippi River. Low and behold, it was exactly what I thought it would be, a whole lot of water! It's cool to be able to say that we walked along the Mississippi River though. Of course we couldn't leave New Orleans without strolling through the French Quarter Market Place. It basically was like a flea market. There were dozens of tables set up with everything and anything you could possibly imagine! During our browsing, Robert actually contracted crabs. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard me right, crabs. They are quite the sight to see, mostly red with a dash of blue and yellow...I suggested getting it checked out but Rob insisted that they would be fine and he would just hang them up in his room when he returned home. Really guys?! I hope you figured out I am not speaking of the sexually transmitted disease and am referring to a painting of crabs that Roberto purchased! You sick puppies, you!
Well, it was time to hit the road Jack, Dallas was waiting for us! It was a long ride to Dallas, but none the less an eventful one, as always! We recounted the events from the night before, stalked our new friends on Facebook and jammed out to some country! When it came time to fill our stomachs we decided it'd be best to eat something light like a salad. Our stomachs have been taking a beating from all this southern food. Jen had a quick change of heart when a Little Caesars was spotted in the following strip mall. The salad idea was long gone and pepperoni pizza and greasy breadsticks took its place. A few hours later we finally arrived at our hotel. After nine hours of traveling the only thing we were looking forward to was a pillow. Until next time, peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Woah...as I blinked my contacts back into place, things began to come into focus. The first thing I saw was my half full jack and coke, good job Steph, at least you restrained yourself from sucking the rest of that down. As I rolled myself out of bed next I saw our clothes from the epic night before strewn all over the room. Finally I made it to the bathroom to relieve myself of all the alcohol that was soaking in my bladder throughout the night. As I look around the bathroom I see my jewelry tossed on the countertop, my roll on baby powder uncapped and on the ground and then I make the mistake of looking in the mirror. I came to the conclusion that sunglasses were going to be worn for the majority of the day, even if they were not necessary. I then turn my eyes down to my thighs and memories of the mechanical bull flood my head. Robert believes my capillaries are too thin, I just think I was a little too competitive on the bull. Although Rob and Jen aren't looking like super models this morning, they definitely have a one up on me.
We finish packing up our belongings and head to breakfast. Hopefully a coffee or two will help with this appearance of mine. We debated staying another night but were thankful when the front desk informed us that they were completely booked for the night. I think that was a sign from God that New Orleans had had enough of us and it was time to move our path of destruction through Dallas. So instead we packed up Bubble Cobalt and headed to the Moonwalk to check out the Mississippi River. Low and behold, it was exactly what I thought it would be, a whole lot of water! It's cool to be able to say that we walked along the Mississippi River though. Of course we couldn't leave New Orleans without strolling through the French Quarter Market Place. It basically was like a flea market. There were dozens of tables set up with everything and anything you could possibly imagine! During our browsing, Robert actually contracted crabs. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard me right, crabs. They are quite the sight to see, mostly red with a dash of blue and yellow...I suggested getting it checked out but Rob insisted that they would be fine and he would just hang them up in his room when he returned home. Really guys?! I hope you figured out I am not speaking of the sexually transmitted disease and am referring to a painting of crabs that Roberto purchased! You sick puppies, you!
Well, it was time to hit the road Jack, Dallas was waiting for us! It was a long ride to Dallas, but none the less an eventful one, as always! We recounted the events from the night before, stalked our new friends on Facebook and jammed out to some country! When it came time to fill our stomachs we decided it'd be best to eat something light like a salad. Our stomachs have been taking a beating from all this southern food. Jen had a quick change of heart when a Little Caesars was spotted in the following strip mall. The salad idea was long gone and pepperoni pizza and greasy breadsticks took its place. A few hours later we finally arrived at our hotel. After nine hours of traveling the only thing we were looking forward to was a pillow. Until next time, peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Day four
Day four, July 12, 2011
Pull up a seat and take a deep breath because this is going to be a long one ladies and gentlemen. How do I even begin to describe this adventure. I guess we should start with the score: New Orleans: 1, Nomads: 0. Someone please say multiple prayers for Vegas; if NO did us dirty I cannot even fathom what Vegas will do. But we'll tackle that battle when we get there. Upon our midnight arrival, we came to the agreement that we better order take out and stay in for the evening. A good nights sleep is a requirement for going HAM in NO.
After a little bit of grub, our heads hit the pillows and in a blink of an eye we were out like lights as mardi gras beads and hand grenades danced through our heads. Cock-a-doodle-doo came and cock-a-doodle-doo went; oops forty five extra minutes of sleep never hurt nobody! After a hearty breakfast we headed out to tour the streets of Nawlins! The first corner we came to was awesome, CVS on one side that not only sells toiletry essentials but alcohol as well. The opposite corner hosted a Jazz band with a dancer who's moves were comparable to those of the hip swinging couple back in Raleigh. Two totally different genres of dance, so both receive a ten out of ten, hands down. As we strolled down Bourbon Street my mouth was watering for a drink but I withheld knowing we would soon be going on a tour of Katrina's destructive path. Instead, we browsed around and saved our livers until later. We bought a self-guided CD that toured us through the Lower Ninth Ward where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest. The CD was narrated by people who were actually present for this horrific storm. A few of them lost their homes in the process. The effects were due to the fact that water breached five levees allowing over eight feet of water to damage or destroy over 204,000 homes. More than 800,000 citizens displaced - the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Super Dome housed over 20,000 people during these desperate times. There were still hundreds of houses that are to this day vacated. Many houses were completely swept away, leaving only the concrete base and the front steps. On many houses there were big X's with numbers around them, this signified that the house was checked. The date it was checked, the unit who checked it, and the amount of people found dead were what each number represented. As we were driving around we saw countless volunteers as well as construction workers who six years later are still attempting to put their town back together again. Once again we would like to send out our deepest apologies for all of the citizens who lost loved ones and their homes. May God bless you all. Best of luck with the remaining reconstruction.
After another somber afternoon of viewing the damage done by mother nature we came to the conclusion it was go time. Game faces on and money in our wallets we hit the town and let NO do us dirty! We commenced the evening with twenty ounces of Hurricane Slushies. Talk about a brain freeze! Rob and I thought it best to coat our stomachs with a piece of the nastiest pizza ever consumed in my lifetime. But hey, foods food and when you're starving and about to declare world was three on your liver, you must put something in that empty pit. Since NO is effin awesome we were allowed to walk the streets with our drinks as long as they were not in a glass container. Our next stop was the Tropical Isle. We planned on stopping in for one hand grenade in honor of Shari but two hours later we were tripping over our own feet trying to navigate our way back to the hotel. Although warned that one hand grenade would be more than enough, especially combined with our other drinks and shots, Jennifer still thought it a good idea to have two hand grenades. This resulted in her later chowing down on my leftover sandwich from thenprevious night. Since I am such a great sister, I even took the liberty of picking the jalepenos off for her. After a few shots and a hand grenade, we set off to make friends. Naturally we are awesome people so everyone wants to be our friends. We hit it off immediately with a couple from NORWAY! So crazy! They were incredible people, Jenny and Jonna. We were buying each other shots and drinks, sticking alligators in our bras and just enjoying ourselves! In the midst of conversation we found out we were speaking with an A-list celeb!!! Jonna is a comedian back in Norway and would be considered as popular as Dave Chapelle! Obviously I asked him to perform but sadly he only knows how to say them in Norwegian. :[ We did learn how to say pre game and after party in Norwegian, that was a plus! Jenny was an amazing dancer, whipping her hair around like she was one of Hugh's bunnies. After Jenny's one woman show, it was my time to shine! My love of dance and a lot of liquid courage helped to bring out moves I never even knew I had in me! Don't ask me to repeat them, because to be brutally honest the margarita erased all memories of my show. I distinctively remember seeing a balled up dollar on the floor towards the end of my routine, incontestably I picked it up and later used it to tip the nice black man wearing a white suit that Jen and I took a picture with. Rob informed me that it was thrown down by an old man and actually hit him in the head! As non chalantly as possible, so people wouldn't conclude that he was throwing dollars at his sister, he tossed the rolled up ball on the floor by my feet. LoLz! I'm not sure but I may have earned that dollar as a result of the wind blowing my skirt up, oops! Sorry daddy! After my little performance we thought it'd be best to go back to the room to freshen up before our dinner date with Jonna and Jenny. Double fisted and quite buzzed we made our way back to the Hampton. Not before stopping to take pictures with a couple of Jefferies along the way. J, being a teacher and knowing that sharing is caring, was kind enough to share her margarita with one guy! Unfortunately we had to discard the straw, he took it upon himself to use it. Robert was not pleased about this decision, he just shook his head in disgust and snatched the straw out of her cup. This man was so thankful for Jen sharing her drink that he kept kissing her forehead and in the process left his face paint trailed across her head! Rob and I let her walk all the back to the hotel like that hahah! Upon our return to the room, Jen dashed for the refrigerator and immediately heated that sucker up and chowed down on my sandwich from the night before.
After a quick Mexican shower and a wardrobe change we set off to meet our friends for dinner! We taxied it up seeing as we were already buzzed and would have taken twice as long to walk there. We enjoyed some delicious jambalaya and teryaki steak with our new friends! The bar at the restaurant was so cool, instead of bar stools there were tire swings!! Of course Jen and I made sure our personal photograph snapped our photo. Full tummies and few more drinks deep and we were ready to be steamrolled by Nawlins! The first place we hit up was the Absinthe House. We were expecting a good time but it was pretty lame. The bartender was not ready for Jersey style drunkeness. C'mon dude, you're a bartender in New Orleans, shape up! So off to bar two we went and $26.00 poorer Rob and I had drinks in hand once again! By this time J moved onto water, she couldn't hang with the big guys any longer! Although I was extremely jealous this morning when I rolled out of bed and immediately ran towards the Tylenol and agua. But that's besides the point. Anyways, back at the bar, the band started to play Michael Jackson and you better believe I was out on the dance floor in a flash. You can just call me the dancing queen! Next came bar three along with a little bit of bull riding. Okay, okay, maybe seven times on the bull is not a "little bit" of bull riding. Jen hopped on first and got her 5 seconds of fame. No, really, she only lasted five seconds LoLzz! I guess everyone can't be professional mechanical bull riders! Next up was me, and baby I rode that bull like a regular cowgirl! I lasted about 25 seconds!! It's all in the thighs girls! Get on up there, hold on tight and squeeze your thighs with all you got! Jonna was up and Jonna was down, good try buddy, maybe you should just stick to telling jokes. $5 later and Roberto was ready to go. It's a shame he didn't bring his cowboy hat because he would've looked official! It was a close race between Rob and I, we'll have re-watch the videos in order to figure out who the champ was. Yes, yes, there is video footage! It will be on Facebook later tonight. Seven rides and bruised thighs and I called it quits or maybe the guy operating the bull did? Last but not least came Deja Vu Showgirls. We were classy enough to go to a strip club; we were in New Orleans, anything goes. We paid our fee but not before the gentleman asked if Jen would like to dance for them tonight for a free entry for the group. Could you believe she didn't even think it over for a minute?! A quick no and thirty dollars later we were on our way upstairs to the balcony to throw beads down to the passer byers. Naturally we made friends with people on our balcony and the balcony across the way and were tossing beads from one balcony to the other. J approached a friendly man and in her damsel in distress voice asked if he could spare any beads. To her surprise he handed her an unopened bag containing close to 250 strands of beads!!! This was so exciting, the mother load was upon us and we felt like kids in a candy shop! I was daintily throwing the beads down to drunkies but Robert on the other hand, or should I say Mark Sanchez, was pelting people in the head with beads! One girl was not too pleased when Rob hit her smack in the head. While threatening to call the cops Rob fired another one down there. Bulls eye! Right in the head again, 5 points for Rob! While Jen and Rob were having fun throwing beads over the balcony I wandered inside to allow my new friend to buy me a Jack and coke, bad news bears. I woke with half a glass of jack and coke next to my bed. While inside mooching off my new friend I spied a guy with a shirt saying "I'm on a boat mother f**ker", of course I asked if I could take a picture with him. Unfortunately in my drunken state I only captured "I'm on a boat". After my photo opp I made my way back outside and we thought it'd be best to head back seeing as we had an 8 hour ride to Dallas the next morning. I wasn't advised until the this morning that before departing I gave my number to one of my balcony friends. I hope he never attempts to get in touch with me... Anyways we said goodbye to our Norwegian friends that we will probably never see again, and teeter tottered our way back to salvation. I literally hung onto Rob's arm the whole walk back. Between my bruised thighs and four inch heels I was having a rough time. We ascended the seven floors to our room, basically fell into bed and luckily fell asleep before the spins could begin. New Orleans received 3 thumbs up and 5 stars! Nawlins you may have done us dirty but gosh darn it you showed us a great time! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Pull up a seat and take a deep breath because this is going to be a long one ladies and gentlemen. How do I even begin to describe this adventure. I guess we should start with the score: New Orleans: 1, Nomads: 0. Someone please say multiple prayers for Vegas; if NO did us dirty I cannot even fathom what Vegas will do. But we'll tackle that battle when we get there. Upon our midnight arrival, we came to the agreement that we better order take out and stay in for the evening. A good nights sleep is a requirement for going HAM in NO.
After a little bit of grub, our heads hit the pillows and in a blink of an eye we were out like lights as mardi gras beads and hand grenades danced through our heads. Cock-a-doodle-doo came and cock-a-doodle-doo went; oops forty five extra minutes of sleep never hurt nobody! After a hearty breakfast we headed out to tour the streets of Nawlins! The first corner we came to was awesome, CVS on one side that not only sells toiletry essentials but alcohol as well. The opposite corner hosted a Jazz band with a dancer who's moves were comparable to those of the hip swinging couple back in Raleigh. Two totally different genres of dance, so both receive a ten out of ten, hands down. As we strolled down Bourbon Street my mouth was watering for a drink but I withheld knowing we would soon be going on a tour of Katrina's destructive path. Instead, we browsed around and saved our livers until later. We bought a self-guided CD that toured us through the Lower Ninth Ward where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest. The CD was narrated by people who were actually present for this horrific storm. A few of them lost their homes in the process. The effects were due to the fact that water breached five levees allowing over eight feet of water to damage or destroy over 204,000 homes. More than 800,000 citizens displaced - the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Super Dome housed over 20,000 people during these desperate times. There were still hundreds of houses that are to this day vacated. Many houses were completely swept away, leaving only the concrete base and the front steps. On many houses there were big X's with numbers around them, this signified that the house was checked. The date it was checked, the unit who checked it, and the amount of people found dead were what each number represented. As we were driving around we saw countless volunteers as well as construction workers who six years later are still attempting to put their town back together again. Once again we would like to send out our deepest apologies for all of the citizens who lost loved ones and their homes. May God bless you all. Best of luck with the remaining reconstruction.
After another somber afternoon of viewing the damage done by mother nature we came to the conclusion it was go time. Game faces on and money in our wallets we hit the town and let NO do us dirty! We commenced the evening with twenty ounces of Hurricane Slushies. Talk about a brain freeze! Rob and I thought it best to coat our stomachs with a piece of the nastiest pizza ever consumed in my lifetime. But hey, foods food and when you're starving and about to declare world was three on your liver, you must put something in that empty pit. Since NO is effin awesome we were allowed to walk the streets with our drinks as long as they were not in a glass container. Our next stop was the Tropical Isle. We planned on stopping in for one hand grenade in honor of Shari but two hours later we were tripping over our own feet trying to navigate our way back to the hotel. Although warned that one hand grenade would be more than enough, especially combined with our other drinks and shots, Jennifer still thought it a good idea to have two hand grenades. This resulted in her later chowing down on my leftover sandwich from thenprevious night. Since I am such a great sister, I even took the liberty of picking the jalepenos off for her. After a few shots and a hand grenade, we set off to make friends. Naturally we are awesome people so everyone wants to be our friends. We hit it off immediately with a couple from NORWAY! So crazy! They were incredible people, Jenny and Jonna. We were buying each other shots and drinks, sticking alligators in our bras and just enjoying ourselves! In the midst of conversation we found out we were speaking with an A-list celeb!!! Jonna is a comedian back in Norway and would be considered as popular as Dave Chapelle! Obviously I asked him to perform but sadly he only knows how to say them in Norwegian. :[ We did learn how to say pre game and after party in Norwegian, that was a plus! Jenny was an amazing dancer, whipping her hair around like she was one of Hugh's bunnies. After Jenny's one woman show, it was my time to shine! My love of dance and a lot of liquid courage helped to bring out moves I never even knew I had in me! Don't ask me to repeat them, because to be brutally honest the margarita erased all memories of my show. I distinctively remember seeing a balled up dollar on the floor towards the end of my routine, incontestably I picked it up and later used it to tip the nice black man wearing a white suit that Jen and I took a picture with. Rob informed me that it was thrown down by an old man and actually hit him in the head! As non chalantly as possible, so people wouldn't conclude that he was throwing dollars at his sister, he tossed the rolled up ball on the floor by my feet. LoLz! I'm not sure but I may have earned that dollar as a result of the wind blowing my skirt up, oops! Sorry daddy! After my little performance we thought it'd be best to go back to the room to freshen up before our dinner date with Jonna and Jenny. Double fisted and quite buzzed we made our way back to the Hampton. Not before stopping to take pictures with a couple of Jefferies along the way. J, being a teacher and knowing that sharing is caring, was kind enough to share her margarita with one guy! Unfortunately we had to discard the straw, he took it upon himself to use it. Robert was not pleased about this decision, he just shook his head in disgust and snatched the straw out of her cup. This man was so thankful for Jen sharing her drink that he kept kissing her forehead and in the process left his face paint trailed across her head! Rob and I let her walk all the back to the hotel like that hahah! Upon our return to the room, Jen dashed for the refrigerator and immediately heated that sucker up and chowed down on my sandwich from the night before.
After a quick Mexican shower and a wardrobe change we set off to meet our friends for dinner! We taxied it up seeing as we were already buzzed and would have taken twice as long to walk there. We enjoyed some delicious jambalaya and teryaki steak with our new friends! The bar at the restaurant was so cool, instead of bar stools there were tire swings!! Of course Jen and I made sure our personal photograph snapped our photo. Full tummies and few more drinks deep and we were ready to be steamrolled by Nawlins! The first place we hit up was the Absinthe House. We were expecting a good time but it was pretty lame. The bartender was not ready for Jersey style drunkeness. C'mon dude, you're a bartender in New Orleans, shape up! So off to bar two we went and $26.00 poorer Rob and I had drinks in hand once again! By this time J moved onto water, she couldn't hang with the big guys any longer! Although I was extremely jealous this morning when I rolled out of bed and immediately ran towards the Tylenol and agua. But that's besides the point. Anyways, back at the bar, the band started to play Michael Jackson and you better believe I was out on the dance floor in a flash. You can just call me the dancing queen! Next came bar three along with a little bit of bull riding. Okay, okay, maybe seven times on the bull is not a "little bit" of bull riding. Jen hopped on first and got her 5 seconds of fame. No, really, she only lasted five seconds LoLzz! I guess everyone can't be professional mechanical bull riders! Next up was me, and baby I rode that bull like a regular cowgirl! I lasted about 25 seconds!! It's all in the thighs girls! Get on up there, hold on tight and squeeze your thighs with all you got! Jonna was up and Jonna was down, good try buddy, maybe you should just stick to telling jokes. $5 later and Roberto was ready to go. It's a shame he didn't bring his cowboy hat because he would've looked official! It was a close race between Rob and I, we'll have re-watch the videos in order to figure out who the champ was. Yes, yes, there is video footage! It will be on Facebook later tonight. Seven rides and bruised thighs and I called it quits or maybe the guy operating the bull did? Last but not least came Deja Vu Showgirls. We were classy enough to go to a strip club; we were in New Orleans, anything goes. We paid our fee but not before the gentleman asked if Jen would like to dance for them tonight for a free entry for the group. Could you believe she didn't even think it over for a minute?! A quick no and thirty dollars later we were on our way upstairs to the balcony to throw beads down to the passer byers. Naturally we made friends with people on our balcony and the balcony across the way and were tossing beads from one balcony to the other. J approached a friendly man and in her damsel in distress voice asked if he could spare any beads. To her surprise he handed her an unopened bag containing close to 250 strands of beads!!! This was so exciting, the mother load was upon us and we felt like kids in a candy shop! I was daintily throwing the beads down to drunkies but Robert on the other hand, or should I say Mark Sanchez, was pelting people in the head with beads! One girl was not too pleased when Rob hit her smack in the head. While threatening to call the cops Rob fired another one down there. Bulls eye! Right in the head again, 5 points for Rob! While Jen and Rob were having fun throwing beads over the balcony I wandered inside to allow my new friend to buy me a Jack and coke, bad news bears. I woke with half a glass of jack and coke next to my bed. While inside mooching off my new friend I spied a guy with a shirt saying "I'm on a boat mother f**ker", of course I asked if I could take a picture with him. Unfortunately in my drunken state I only captured "I'm on a boat". After my photo opp I made my way back outside and we thought it'd be best to head back seeing as we had an 8 hour ride to Dallas the next morning. I wasn't advised until the this morning that before departing I gave my number to one of my balcony friends. I hope he never attempts to get in touch with me... Anyways we said goodbye to our Norwegian friends that we will probably never see again, and teeter tottered our way back to salvation. I literally hung onto Rob's arm the whole walk back. Between my bruised thighs and four inch heels I was having a rough time. We ascended the seven floors to our room, basically fell into bed and luckily fell asleep before the spins could begin. New Orleans received 3 thumbs up and 5 stars! Nawlins you may have done us dirty but gosh darn it you showed us a great time! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Day four
Day four, July 12, 2011
Pull up a seat and take a deep breath because this is going to be a long one ladies and gentlemen. How do I even begin to describe this adventure. I guess we should start with the score: New Orleans: 1, Nomads: 0. Someone please say multiple prayers for Vegas; if NO did us dirty I cannot even fathom what Vegas will do. But we'll tackle that battle when we get there. Upon our midnight arrival, we came to the agreement that we better order take out and stay in for the evening. A good nights sleep is a requirement for going HAM in NO.
After a little bit of grub, our heads hit the pillows and in a blink of an eye we were out like lights as mardi gras beads and hand grenades danced through our heads. Cock-a-doodle-doo came and cock-a-doodle-doo went; oops forty five extra minutes of sleep never hurt nobody! After a hearty breakfast we headed out to tour the streets of Nawlins! The first corner we came to was awesome, CVS on one side that not only sells toiletry essentials but alcohol as well. The opposite corner hosted a Jazz band with a dancer who's moves were comparable to those of the hip swinging couple back in Raleigh. Two totally different genres of dance, so both receive a ten out of ten, hands down. As we strolled down Bourbon Street my mouth was watering for a drink but I withheld knowing we would soon be going on a tour of Katrina's destructive path. Instead, we browsed around and saved our livers until later. We bought a self-guided CD that toured us through the Lower Ninth Ward where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest. The CD was narrated by people who were actually present for this horrific storm. A few of them lost their homes in the process. The effects were due to the fact that water breached five levees allowing over eight feet of water to damage or destroy over 204,000 homes. More than 800,000 citizens displaced - the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Super Dome housed over 20,000 people during these desperate times. There were still hundreds of houses that are to this day vacated. Many houses were completely swept away, leaving only the concrete base and the front steps. On many houses there were big X's with numbers around them, this signified that the house was checked. The date it was checked, the unit who checked it, and the amount of people found dead were what each number represented. As we were driving around we saw countless volunteers as well as construction workers who six years later are still attempting to put their town back together again. Once again we would like to send out our deepest apologies for all of the citizens who lost loved ones and their homes. May God bless you all. Best of luck with the remaining reconstruction.
After another somber afternoon of viewing the damage done by mother nature we came to the conclusion it was go time. Game faces on and money in our wallets we hit the town and let NO do us dirty! We commenced the evening with twenty ounces of Hurricane Slushies. Talk about a brain freeze! Rob and I thought it best to coat our stomachs with a piece of the nastiest pizza ever consumed in my lifetime. But hey, foods food and when you're starving and about to declare world was three on your liver, you must put something in that empty pit. Since NO is effin awesome we were allowed to walk the streets with our drinks as long as they were not in a glass container. Our next stop was the Tropical Isle. We planned on stopping in for one hand grenade in honor of Shari but two hours later we were tripping over our own feet trying to navigate our way back to the hotel. Although warned that one hand grenade would be more than enough, especially combined with our other drinks and shots, Jennifer still thought it a good idea to have two hand grenades. This resulted in her later chowing down on my leftover sandwich from thenprevious night. Since I am such a great sister, I even took the liberty of picking the jalepenos off for her. After a few shots and a hand grenade, we set off to make friends. Naturally we are awesome people so everyone wants to be our friends. We hit it off immediately with a couple from NORWAY! So crazy! They were incredible people, Jenny and Jonna. We were buying each other shots and drinks, sticking alligators in our bras and just enjoying ourselves! In the midst of conversation we found out we were speaking with an A-list celeb!!! Jonna is a comedian back in Norway and would be considered as popular as Dave Chapelle! Obviously I asked him to perform but sadly he only knows how to say them in Norwegian. :[ We did learn how to say pre game and after party in Norwegian, that was a plus! Jenny was an amazing dancer, whipping her hair around like she was one of Hugh's bunnies. After Jenny's one woman show, it was my time to shine! My love of dance and a lot of liquid courage helped to bring out moves I never even knew I had in me! Don't ask me to repeat them, because to be brutally honest the margarita erased all memories of my show. I distinctively remember seeing a balled up dollar on the floor towards the end of my routine, incontestably I picked it up and later used it to tip the nice black man wearing a white suit that Jen and I took a picture with. Rob informed me that it was thrown down by an old man and actually hit him in the head! As non chalantly as possible, so people wouldn't conclude that he was throwing dollars at his sister, he tossed the rolled up ball on the floor by my feet. LoLz! I'm not sure but I may have earned that dollar as a result of the wind blowing my skirt up, oops! Sorry daddy! After my little performance we thought it'd be best to go back to the room to freshen up before our dinner date with Jonna and Jenny. Double fisted and quite buzzed we made our way back to the Hampton. Not before stopping to take pictures with a couple of Jefferies along the way. J, being a teacher and knowing that sharing is caring, was kind enough to share her margarita with one guy! Unfortunately we had to discard the straw, he took it upon himself to use it. Robert was not pleased about this decision, he just shook his head in disgust and snatched the straw out of her cup. This man was so thankful for Jen sharing her drink that he kept kissing her forehead and in the process left his face paint trailed across her head! Rob and I let her walk all the back to the hotel like that hahah! Upon our return to the room, Jen dashed for the refrigerator and immediately heated that sucker up and chowed down on my sandwich from the night before.
After a quick Mexican shower and a wardrobe change we set off to meet our friends for dinner! We taxied it up seeing as we were already buzzed and would have taken twice as long to walk there. We enjoyed some delicious jambalaya and teryaki steak with our new friends! The bar at the restaurant was so cool, instead of bar stools there were tire swings!! Of course Jen and I made sure our personal photograph snapped our photo. Full tummies and few more drinks deep and we were ready to be steamrolled by Nawlins! The first place we hit up was the Absinthe House. We were expecting a good time but it was pretty lame. The bartender was not ready for Jersey style drunkeness. C'mon dude, you're a bartender in New Orleans, shape up! So off to bar two we went and $26.00 poorer Rob and I had drinks in hand once again! By this time J moved onto water, she couldn't hang with the big guys any longer! Although I was extremely jealous this morning when I rolled out of bed and immediately ran towards the Tylenol and agua. But that's besides the point. Anyways, back at the bar, the band started to play Michael Jackson and you better believe I was out on the dance floor in a flash. You can just call me the dancing queen! Next came bar three along with a little bit of bull riding. Okay, okay, maybe seven times on the bull is not a "little bit" of bull riding. Jen hopped on first and got her 5 seconds of fame. No, really, she only lasted five seconds LoLzz! I guess everyone can't be professional mechanical bull riders! Next up was me, and baby I rode that bull like a regular cowgirl! I lasted about 25 seconds!! It's all in the thighs girls! Get on up there, hold on tight and squeeze your thighs with all you got! Jonna was up and Jonna was down, good try buddy, maybe you should just stick to telling jokes. $5 later and Roberto was ready to go. It's a shame he didn't bring his cowboy hat because he would've looked official! It was a close race between Rob and I, we'll have re-watch the videos in order to figure out who the champ was. Yes, yes, there is video footage! It will be on Facebook later tonight. Seven rides and bruised thighs and I called it quits or maybe the guy operating the bull did? Last but not least came Deja Vu Showgirls. We were classy enough to go to a strip club; we were in New Orleans, anything goes. We paid our fee but not before the gentleman asked if Jen would like to dance for them tonight for a free entry for the group. Could you believe she didn't even think it over for a minute?! A quick no and thirty dollars later we were on our way upstairs to the balcony to throw beads down to the passer byers. Naturally we made friends with people on our balcony and the balcony across the way and were tossing beads from one balcony to the other. J approached a friendly man and in her damsel in distress voice asked if he could spare any beads. To her surprise he handed her an unopened bag containing close to 250 strands of beads!!! This was so exciting, the mother load was upon us and we felt like kids in a candy shop! I was daintily throwing the beads down to drunkies but Robert on the other hand, or should I say Mark Sanchez, was pelting people in the head with beads! One girl was not too pleased when Rob hit her smack in the head. While threatening to call the cops Rob fired another one down there. Bulls eye! Right in the head again, 5 points for Rob! While Jen and Rob were having fun throwing beads over the balcony I wandered inside to allow my new friend to buy me a Jack and coke, bad news bears. I woke with half a glass of jack and coke next to my bed. While inside mooching off my new friend I spied a guy with a shirt saying "I'm on a boat mother f**ker", of course I asked if I could take a picture with him. Unfortunately in my drunken state I only captured "I'm on a boat". After my photo opp I made my way back outside and we thought it'd be best to head back seeing as we had an 8 hour ride to Dallas the next morning. I wasn't advised until the this morning that before departing I gave my number to one of my balcony friends. I hope he never attempts to get in touch with me... Anyways we said goodbye to our Norwegian friends that we will probably never see again, and teeter tottered our way back to salvation. I literally hung onto Rob's arm the whole walk back. Between my bruised thighs and four inch heels I was having a rough time. We ascended the seven floors to our room, basically fell into bed and luckily fell asleep before the spins could begin. New Orleans received 3 thumbs up and 5 stars! Nawlins you may have done us dirty but gosh darn it you showed us a great time! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Pull up a seat and take a deep breath because this is going to be a long one ladies and gentlemen. How do I even begin to describe this adventure. I guess we should start with the score: New Orleans: 1, Nomads: 0. Someone please say multiple prayers for Vegas; if NO did us dirty I cannot even fathom what Vegas will do. But we'll tackle that battle when we get there. Upon our midnight arrival, we came to the agreement that we better order take out and stay in for the evening. A good nights sleep is a requirement for going HAM in NO.
After a little bit of grub, our heads hit the pillows and in a blink of an eye we were out like lights as mardi gras beads and hand grenades danced through our heads. Cock-a-doodle-doo came and cock-a-doodle-doo went; oops forty five extra minutes of sleep never hurt nobody! After a hearty breakfast we headed out to tour the streets of Nawlins! The first corner we came to was awesome, CVS on one side that not only sells toiletry essentials but alcohol as well. The opposite corner hosted a Jazz band with a dancer who's moves were comparable to those of the hip swinging couple back in Raleigh. Two totally different genres of dance, so both receive a ten out of ten, hands down. As we strolled down Bourbon Street my mouth was watering for a drink but I withheld knowing we would soon be going on a tour of Katrina's destructive path. Instead, we browsed around and saved our livers until later. We bought a self-guided CD that toured us through the Lower Ninth Ward where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest. The CD was narrated by people who were actually present for this horrific storm. A few of them lost their homes in the process. The effects were due to the fact that water breached five levees allowing over eight feet of water to damage or destroy over 204,000 homes. More than 800,000 citizens displaced - the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Super Dome housed over 20,000 people during these desperate times. There were still hundreds of houses that are to this day vacated. Many houses were completely swept away, leaving only the concrete base and the front steps. On many houses there were big X's with numbers around them, this signified that the house was checked. The date it was checked, the unit who checked it, and the amount of people found dead were what each number represented. As we were driving around we saw countless volunteers as well as construction workers who six years later are still attempting to put their town back together again. Once again we would like to send out our deepest apologies for all of the citizens who lost loved ones and their homes. May God bless you all. Best of luck with the remaining reconstruction.
After another somber afternoon of viewing the damage done by mother nature we came to the conclusion it was go time. Game faces on and money in our wallets we hit the town and let NO do us dirty! We commenced the evening with twenty ounces of Hurricane Slushies. Talk about a brain freeze! Rob and I thought it best to coat our stomachs with a piece of the nastiest pizza ever consumed in my lifetime. But hey, foods food and when you're starving and about to declare world was three on your liver, you must put something in that empty pit. Since NO is effin awesome we were allowed to walk the streets with our drinks as long as they were not in a glass container. Our next stop was the Tropical Isle. We planned on stopping in for one hand grenade in honor of Shari but two hours later we were tripping over our own feet trying to navigate our way back to the hotel. Although warned that one hand grenade would be more than enough, especially combined with our other drinks and shots, Jennifer still thought it a good idea to have two hand grenades. This resulted in her later chowing down on my leftover sandwich from thenprevious night. Since I am such a great sister, I even took the liberty of picking the jalepenos off for her. After a few shots and a hand grenade, we set off to make friends. Naturally we are awesome people so everyone wants to be our friends. We hit it off immediately with a couple from NORWAY! So crazy! They were incredible people, Jenny and Jonna. We were buying each other shots and drinks, sticking alligators in our bras and just enjoying ourselves! In the midst of conversation we found out we were speaking with an A-list celeb!!! Jonna is a comedian back in Norway and would be considered as popular as Dave Chapelle! Obviously I asked him to perform but sadly he only knows how to say them in Norwegian. :[ We did learn how to say pre game and after party in Norwegian, that was a plus! Jenny was an amazing dancer, whipping her hair around like she was one of Hugh's bunnies. After Jenny's one woman show, it was my time to shine! My love of dance and a lot of liquid courage helped to bring out moves I never even knew I had in me! Don't ask me to repeat them, because to be brutally honest the margarita erased all memories of my show. I distinctively remember seeing a balled up dollar on the floor towards the end of my routine, incontestably I picked it up and later used it to tip the nice black man wearing a white suit that Jen and I took a picture with. Rob informed me that it was thrown down by an old man and actually hit him in the head! As non chalantly as possible, so people wouldn't conclude that he was throwing dollars at his sister, he tossed the rolled up ball on the floor by my feet. LoLz! I'm not sure but I may have earned that dollar as a result of the wind blowing my skirt up, oops! Sorry daddy! After my little performance we thought it'd be best to go back to the room to freshen up before our dinner date with Jonna and Jenny. Double fisted and quite buzzed we made our way back to the Hampton. Not before stopping to take pictures with a couple of Jefferies along the way. J, being a teacher and knowing that sharing is caring, was kind enough to share her margarita with one guy! Unfortunately we had to discard the straw, he took it upon himself to use it. Robert was not pleased about this decision, he just shook his head in disgust and snatched the straw out of her cup. This man was so thankful for Jen sharing her drink that he kept kissing her forehead and in the process left his face paint trailed across her head! Rob and I let her walk all the back to the hotel like that hahah! Upon our return to the room, Jen dashed for the refrigerator and immediately heated that sucker up and chowed down on my sandwich from the night before.
After a quick Mexican shower and a wardrobe change we set off to meet our friends for dinner! We taxied it up seeing as we were already buzzed and would have taken twice as long to walk there. We enjoyed some delicious jambalaya and teryaki steak with our new friends! The bar at the restaurant was so cool, instead of bar stools there were tire swings!! Of course Jen and I made sure our personal photograph snapped our photo. Full tummies and few more drinks deep and we were ready to be steamrolled by Nawlins! The first place we hit up was the Absinthe House. We were expecting a good time but it was pretty lame. The bartender was not ready for Jersey style drunkeness. C'mon dude, you're a bartender in New Orleans, shape up! So off to bar two we went and $26.00 poorer Rob and I had drinks in hand once again! By this time J moved onto water, she couldn't hang with the big guys any longer! Although I was extremely jealous this morning when I rolled out of bed and immediately ran towards the Tylenol and agua. But that's besides the point. Anyways, back at the bar, the band started to play Michael Jackson and you better believe I was out on the dance floor in a flash. You can just call me the dancing queen! Next came bar three along with a little bit of bull riding. Okay, okay, maybe seven times on the bull is not a "little bit" of bull riding. Jen hopped on first and got her 5 seconds of fame. No, really, she only lasted five seconds LoLzz! I guess everyone can't be professional mechanical bull riders! Next up was me, and baby I rode that bull like a regular cowgirl! I lasted about 25 seconds!! It's all in the thighs girls! Get on up there, hold on tight and squeeze your thighs with all you got! Jonna was up and Jonna was down, good try buddy, maybe you should just stick to telling jokes. $5 later and Roberto was ready to go. It's a shame he didn't bring his cowboy hat because he would've looked official! It was a close race between Rob and I, we'll have re-watch the videos in order to figure out who the champ was. Yes, yes, there is video footage! It will be on Facebook later tonight. Seven rides and bruised thighs and I called it quits or maybe the guy operating the bull did? Last but not least came Deja Vu Showgirls. We were classy enough to go to a strip club; we were in New Orleans, anything goes. We paid our fee but not before the gentleman asked if Jen would like to dance for them tonight for a free entry for the group. Could you believe she didn't even think it over for a minute?! A quick no and thirty dollars later we were on our way upstairs to the balcony to throw beads down to the passer byers. Naturally we made friends with people on our balcony and the balcony across the way and were tossing beads from one balcony to the other. J approached a friendly man and in her damsel in distress voice asked if he could spare any beads. To her surprise he handed her an unopened bag containing close to 250 strands of beads!!! This was so exciting, the mother load was upon us and we felt like kids in a candy shop! I was daintily throwing the beads down to drunkies but Robert on the other hand, or should I say Mark Sanchez, was pelting people in the head with beads! One girl was not too pleased when Rob hit her smack in the head. While threatening to call the cops Rob fired another one down there. Bulls eye! Right in the head again, 5 points for Rob! While Jen and Rob were having fun throwing beads over the balcony I wandered inside to allow my new friend to buy me a Jack and coke, bad news bears. I woke with half a glass of jack and coke next to my bed. While inside mooching off my new friend I spied a guy with a shirt saying "I'm on a boat mother f**ker", of course I asked if I could take a picture with him. Unfortunately in my drunken state I only captured "I'm on a boat". After my photo opp I made my way back outside and we thought it'd be best to head back seeing as we had an 8 hour ride to Dallas the next morning. I wasn't advised until the this morning that before departing I gave my number to one of my balcony friends. I hope he never attempts to get in touch with me... Anyways we said goodbye to our Norwegian friends that we will probably never see again, and teeter tottered our way back to salvation. I literally hung onto Rob's arm the whole walk back. Between my bruised thighs and four inch heels I was having a rough time. We ascended the seven floors to our room, basically fell into bed and luckily fell asleep before the spins could begin. New Orleans received 3 thumbs up and 5 stars! Nawlins you may have done us dirty but gosh darn it you showed us a great time! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
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