Epilogue! Thanks for following!

So guys, thanks for reading along as we traveled down the highways. It was an awesome experience! Other than the lack of sleep I got from all of Ruti's snoring, it was excellent (FYI, Breathe Right nasal strips do NOT work!).

Just in case you were wondering what Avis thought about our road trip, they weren't too happy... you see, we started off driving with around 7,600 miles on the car. And we returned it with around 13,000. The guy just looked at me and said,
"I know you didn't just put 5,000 miles on this car." What else was I gonna say? I just acted dumb.
"What? Huh?"

Anyway, it said "unlimited" miles, and Ruti and I were nice enough to clean it for them! Somewhat, anyway...

But hey, we paid our hard earned money for that car! Granted we were able to priceline it for just $17/day, it was a hard earned $17!

Well that's it for me. I don't have anything else to say. Ruti?

The journey home

We got up the next morning, somewhat somber. We knew this would be our last time outside of North Carolina, but the road trip had been a great one, and we knew the pictures we had gathered would be helpful during our EXTREMELY boring classes.

Back on the road, we stopped in Nashville, TN. After being impressed at Memphis and its surprises, we were hoping for the same in Nashville. But there wasn't really much surprising there. It was just... Country! And lots of it! Fortunately, we did realize that the Duke vs. Hampton game was on, and was able to stop in a bar to watch Duke whoop some butt.

Then we continued our trek back through the plains, and then mountains of Tennessee. We knew we were close to home when our phones switched from Central to Eastern time zone. We hit Asheville around 10:00 that night, and since it was our last night, we decided to splurge a bit and stay at a Courtyard hotel. (hey for us, that is splurging!)

After walking to a nearby Waffle House, we called it a night.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel, and headed to Downtown Asheville, where there were more hippies than parking spaces. Each store was "organic" this, and "Tofurkey" that. Made you wonder if these people had anything tasty to eat! But after chilling at a cafe for awhile, we took the four hour trek back to Durham.

Our road trip, folks, was over...

Of the blues, the lights and walkabouts

It's St. Party's Day and we reach Memphis at a reasonable hour and with some energy in reserve, a welcome change from the past few days. Determined to have a few drinks to celebrate we headed to downtown Memphis not expecting to see too much.

We were greeted however by Beale street dressed up in bright florescent hues, blocked off to traffic but carrying an army of youth enjoying their drinks on the street. It was a flashback to Mardi Gras (without the flashing). All our weariness disappeared as we couldn't help but be infected by the high energy environment.

Sauntering into BB Kings Blues Cafe we were treated to an outstanding performance by the band which had the whole club dancing clapping and hooting. The Guinness and Whiskey only further fueled the crowd. When the club closed we headed out into the streets to listen to a few more bands who were good, but what caught our attention was a four foot tall glass filled with an electric blue and apparently potent libation(everyone who had one was pleasantly stumbling along the road. We had to have one, armed with our own walkabout we continued our exploration of Beale street where we bumped into a variety of interesting people.

Mel in particular seemed to be in luck, a blonde dressed in green stuck to him, now feeling his muscles, now laughing at his jokes. If she were 30 years younger and an equal no of pounds lighter she may have been quite a catch. But Mel seemed pretty engrossed in deep conversation leaving me alone with the drink, not a good idea. Having consumed a sufficient amount I mustered up the courage to break up their love chat, after all I needed someone to drive me to the hotel.

Memphis really was a pleasant surprise!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Memphis

Driving, Driving, and... Uh... Driving

After our brush with the law at the Grand Canyon, things slowed down a bit. We finally arrived in Albuquerque that night, completely worn out and 12 hours after we left Vegas.

The next morning, we were back up again, heading toward Oklahoma City. Here, we had an extra 8-hour drive. For those who have never driven through the Midwest, there really isn't much. Desert everywhere you look, and very few cars on the road except in major cities. Our one major highlight was going running in Groom, New Mexico.

Once again, fears of being in a place you don't belong had Ruti shaking like that kid from "The Sitxth Sense". But I told him there was nothing to worry about. As long as you keep running they can't catch you :D! So just use it as motivation!

We arrived in Oklahoma City Wednesday night, once again worn out. But we knew we had 3 days to get the car back in time. So that meant hitting the road for another long drive the next morning...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Albuquerque to Oklahoma City

"You have 5 minutes to get off this property!"

After leaving Vegas, we began our travel back to NC. For this part of the road trip, we hadn't exactly figured out how we would get back to Durham in time. According to Avis, we need to return the Focus by Sunday at 12 pm. In order to do this, we realize we have to drive a pretty good portion each day. So this is our new goal:

Tuesday: end in Albuquerque
Wednesday: in Oklahoma City
Thursday: in Memphis
Friday: in Asheville
Saturday: in Durham
Sunday: return the car

We look at this itinerary and realize we will need to drive around 8 hours each day. It's all good though. We head toward New Mexico, by first stopping at The Grand Canyon. Although I had been before, I was thrown by how to get there. We were driving through deserts, dirt roads, and other terrain for miles just to get to the top of the canyon.






After perhaps 30 minutes, we finally reach within sight of the mouth of the canyon when we are stopped by a worker at the canyon. "Have you guys been here before?"
"No. "
"Well, I'm going to need you guys to park in this lot, and head inside the building."

Now I sure don't remember this happening last time, but we were on the part of the canyon owned by an Indian reservation, so perhaps they would try to get us to buy stuff. And boy was I right!

We found out we wouldn't even get to see the canyon unless we paid at least $100 per person in mandatory tours, gas fees, and taxes! Ruti and I looked at each other and dipped out of there. But we were still determined to see the canyon. I mean, we were right there!

We spotted a ranch a mile down the road and stopped there. Here, more souvenirs were sold and a dirt road led to the mouth of the canyon. BUT the entrance to the road had a huge "No Trespassing" sign. Well clearly they didnt mean us...



So we get out of the car, wait until no one is looking and hightail it down the road. Five minutes into our walk, we look to the right, and...

"oh no..."

A worker is rushing toward us on horseback. And we are so close to the edge! I look at Ruti.

"Hurry up and take a picture of me!" I said as I ran in front of him and turned my back to the canyon. Just as he took my picture, the big bad sheriff came up.

"Did you not see the sign up front saying not to enter! What are you doing out here?!"

Ruti looked like he was about to pee in his pants... "I don't know," he said.

"Did you come in a car?"
"yes"
" Well you have five minutes to get in your car and get off this property, before I have security escort you off!"

So we left, a bit dejected... But at least we got our picture :p.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Grand Canyon

All of the lights! Part 3

We walk into the Bellagio. Spot our table and head toward it. The game plan: "Ok guys. Were gonna take this $100, turn it into $200 and leave the second we got it."

With our powers combined, we began slowly increasing our wins. As our stacks grew, we couldn't help but get more excited at our good luck! We weren't just being lucky! We were being smart! I look over at the growing stack, and while Ruti keeps playing I start counting.

Ok $205. Time to quit. And just as I tell Ruti to pull the chips off the table, we lose $30 on the table. Well that's ok. Just one more win, and we can go home.

Except something happened. We never recovered. $205 became $105, became $55, and before we knew it all of our chips were gone. All we could do is start at each other in disbelief. Did that really happen?!

The next morning, we bid farewell to the Caramelo Loco, took one last look at Sin City in our rearview mirror and said "Good riddance!"


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Vegas

All of the lights! Part 2

Well the answer is, not so good...

On the night that we arrived, we mostly played around with little games, making a bit here and losing a bit there. But in the end, we ended up losing $30 each for a total of $60.

So the next day, we were determined! We were getting our money back! The first thing we did was stake out our prime location: The Bellagio. But not really to play. Instead it was to eat. And boy was it a good buffet! Imagine your favorite BBQ, Italian, Asian, and American food places put together under one roof. That's the Bellagio Buffet.

So after eating so much that we thought we would have to puke just to start walking, we staked our second prime location: the Bellagio Casino.

We walk into the place, and spot the Craps table.

"How do you play?" I ask the dealer
"Well, you put money down, he throws the dice, and you win money."

Hmm, sounds easy enough. So, Ruti, Alfonso and I pull out $100 and say "Chip me!"

Well it turns out its not all that easy. BUT, somehow we ended with over $200 walking away! Not only that, we were getting free drinks the whole time! This was the most awesome day ever!

We take our winnings, and head over to the discount tickets place. Still high over our winnings, we drop $70 each on a Cirque du Soleil performance. So how was it? Interesting question... It was kind of a cross between really awesome gymnastics, really boring music, and really weird characters. For example, one was a 200 pound baby. But there were amazing acts. In one awesome act, one man balanced another man on his feet, while moving from lying on his back to his stomach. Very weird, yet strangely awesome.

So, still high from our wins, we decide to play Craps again! Bad mistake. Within 30 minutes we lost all of our profits. Even now, four days later, I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how that happened...

Dejected, we walked out of Treasure Island. But as we exited the door, a strange resolve came over us. We came to Vegas to be winners! Not losers! We were going back one last time. And this time we would take our money from Bellagio! We marched toward the entrance, blasting the Black Eyed Peas "Just Can't Get Enough" the entire way. Then we pushed open the doors...

So how did we do? Read the next post to find out ;)




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Vegas

All of the Lights!

Day 3- was awesome: we were announced ACC champions! Hopefully that is foretelling a second NCAA Championship! Bt anyway, back to the story...

After we said our goodbye's to Lei, we headed to Venice Beach.



Thought it was too cold to get in the water, people watching was pretty awesome! Where else can you find the following all at once?

* Skaters
* Skateboarders
* pot smokers chilling at a bonfire on the beach
* doctors trying to sell you prescriptions to get pot
* basketball players being filmed unwantedly by a wannabe pro
* some actor from the show Glee (the one with a Mohawk)



After having fun here for awhile, we got back into the car, headed for the bright lights of Vegas.

But being hungry, we decided to stop by this In n Out Burger we kept hearing about. And the lines were amazing! Never had we seen so many people waiting just to get a burger! Especially since across the street was an empty Wendy's.



So we ate the burgers (meh...) and kept driving. We reached Vegas at 1 am, and immediately went out to the Bellagio to start winning! We weren't hoping to make a lot- just enough to pay off our student loans...

How did we do? Read the next blog post to find out ;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Los Angeles

California Love pt. 2

We awoke ready to tackle LA by storm. First, we headed in the Focus and drove to a local Thai place in Hollywood to eat. After, we took a stroll down Beverly Hills, basically house- and people-watching.



We then headed to pick up my boy David. He became our appointed tour guide, taking us to a strip on Sunset Blvd, and taking us to a bar to watch some of the college basketball games going on that day.


Before we knew it, the sun was setting, so we changed clothes and decked to take LA nightlife by storm too. Unfortunately, it turned out that so was everyone else. The first two places we visited had extremely long lines, with people not allowed to enter until someone else decided to leave.

We finally found a spot that was less packed, though still full. In stark contrast to bars we see in Durham, or even other places on our trip with the exception of Atlanta, this bar had a very ritzy feel. There were VIP sections, a huge fire pit that people were chilling around, and $12 drinks.

Because we weren't balling like Dave, drinking was kept to a minimum, and after late night tacos at a sketchy taco truck in the middle of nowhere, we headed back to the place to sleep. Somehow it was 4 am.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Los Angeles

California Love

You know that you're in California when:
- the first sign you see is $1000 fine for animal abandonment
- the second is $1000 fine for littering or smoking
- the urinals are waterless (and quite frankly stink)
- brown doesn't automatically mean mexican
- bmx bikers jump over you when you're trying to catch a nap in a park

So were finally in California, the land of $4 gas prices and $1000 fines for abandoning your pet Fluffy. After Crazy Caramel (see earlier post) joined us, we did what anyone would do after driving for a week to finally reach their destination: we slept. Yup, we went to the San Diego park, found our own separate spots in the crowded park, and dozed off.

My nap was cut short, however, whenever I was so nicely awakened by a bmx biker who thought it would be cool to do jumps over me. I wanted to take his bike and jump over him... And miss.

Anyway, after taking a historical trolley tour of San Diego by a guide who probably should have been a first grade teacher, we then headed to meet one of Ruti's friend at a local pub. The first thing he said to Ruti after meeting him for the first time in six years? "Whoa! You look like to Ruti's put together!" Well, we couldn't help but laugh at that.

We then headed to the great city of LA, blasting Tupac's song "California Love" the entire way. How did we greet the The Caramelo Locos entry into our road trip? By making him drive of course! Of course that in itself becomes an interesting adventure. We spent the entire time yelling out things like

"Watch out!"
"No! left turn!"
"I don't wanna die!"

But I am happy to report that the only casualty was a parking lot cone.

We met up with Law school buddy Lei in LA that night. Anyone who knows Lei would be surprised to hear he was quite normal when I met him. I began to think that law firm life zapped him of his quirkiness. But before long, he was back to his old self, trying to rap, joking on folks, and basically assuming his role as stand up comic.



We headed that night to the world famous Roscoe's Chicken n Waffles, which looked more like a nightclub on the outside with a really big guy standing at the door wearing a shirt saying "Security".

But once inside, we basically killed everything they thought to the table. Afterward, the four of us and Fateen, who joined us that night as well, headed to a bar called Stout. I'm sure it was Lei's first time in a bar in years. It was our tenth in a week. We had a really good time, and after bidding farewell to Fateen, finally headed to Lei's place to sleep.

Cali- day 1 was done.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location: San Diego, Los Angeles

Introducing- El Caramello Loco

In case you haven't heard the shades of brown is a three person band. We have (in descending order of 'browness') chocolate huggy bear (Mel ) brown sugar (yours truly) and finally El Caramello Loco - or crazy caramel (en anglais) - Alfonso Puente.

For those of you not yet acquainted with El Loco, rest assured that the name is well deserved. Despite his many antics everyone who comes into contact with the Fons can attest that it is pretty damn hard to get mad at him, cause he's, well, special.

In order to greet our fearless leader we woke up at 5 30 from our cozy Sheraton beds and headed to San Diego all the while gunning the engine so as to reach there on time. That was true until we turned a corner and saw what appeared to be a range of mountains which on closer observation were just piles of Boulders. It was like god was stacking pebbles into triangular shapes, only his pebbles were more like the size of our car. This bore closer inspection.



So got off the highway and turned into Boulder national park (again with the apt names). It turns out that boulders don't like to be climbed, they're pretty damn smooth, that it until they scrape your knee, and arrange themselves in such a way that you either make matrix style moves to cross from one to the other or have to navigate each rock painstakingly. Turns out we didn't watch "The Matrix" enough times.



So though it took us longer than anticipated the band was finally reunited in San Diego.

-AD


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:San Diego, CA

Caution: Hikers Falling

At around 8:00 I awoke from my Travelodge bed in El Paso. It wasn't the greatest nap in the world but at least I was refreshed. Ruti was too lazy to run with me so I went by myself. One of the hidden great things about El Paso is the view of the mountains. As I made my way down the streets I couldn't help but admire the grandeur of the scenery. Little did I know I would soon be much, much closer.

We packed the car, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed toward the entrance of the Franklin Mountain State park. Our mission: to climb to the entrance of the Aztec caves.



Our initial steps were quite simple enough. The graded wasn't steep and walking was a much better feel than sitting in a car. But soon, we found ourselves exerting more and more energy to reach the top.




When we finally reached the caves, it was more than worth it. The views were breathtaking, and we couldn't help but take as many pictures as possible. Then it happened:

"uh how are we gonna get back down?" we didn't quite realize that it would be harder to go down than to go up. As we began our slow, careful trek down, I found myself beginning to take bolder and bolder steps until one step was a little too bold..

"oh no," I thought as my feet went up into the air and I found myself falling onto my back. So what did Ruti do when he saw my distress?

"Stay there! I'm gonna take a picture. This is awesome!"

What a great roommate.

We finished the rest of the hike and hopped into the car to head towards Tucson, Arizona.

We arrived there around 8:00 that night, worn out but proud that our Priceline skills scored us a night in the Sheraton. It is a good thing too, because there was absolutely nothing going on in this city. It didn't matter to us. We grabbed a 6-pack of Blue Moon, headed out to the outdoor jacuzzi, and created our own Tucson fun.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:El Paso, Texas and Tucson Arizona

Why the hell y'all driving so far?

As of this post, we are beginning the second half of our road trip. We are officially leaving California and heading to the great city of Vegas. But back to the story...

We awoke the next morning from our night in San Antonio completely worn out from the night before. Still trying to recover, we rushed to get ready for our conference call with someone back east. We then headed on our longest drive yet... From San Antonio to El Paso, Tx.

Now you may think this drive appeared daunting because of it's sheer length. I mean, an 8 hour drive is a pretty long time. But what really made the trip a crazy one were the following key rules we eventually learned:

(1) "Don't mess with Texas cops"- On our trip we were stopped twice by the police. The first time, we were greeted by a friendly officer who proceeded to demand we get out the car and answer questions like "why the hell y'all driving so far", "y'all drunk or somethin?", and "what the hell you got so many stamps in your passport?" He finally let us go, and of course at no time did he ever tell us why he stopped us.




(2) "50 miles to empty is being rounded up from 5 miles to empty" - halfway through out trek through Texas, we came across a large stretch where for more than 30 miles there was no gas station. No worries. Our reliable Ford Escort said we had 50 miles to empty. Then 40. Then 30. Before we knew it, there was 1 mile until empty and we were still 10 miles from the nearest station. Let's just say things got really interesting...


(3) "AT&T covers 97% of Americans... Unless you have AT&T" - throughout this drive, we began to realize just how unawesome an iphone is when there is no reception. This really got us worried when we began to wonder if we would actually make it to the next gas station.

We finally arrived in El Paso at around 10:00 Mountain Standard Time. Too tired to priceline a hotel and too poor to get a nie one, we finally settled on a Travelodge for the night. After what would would happen the next day, we were definitely grateful for the hotel bed...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Texas

New Orleans, Indian Edition

I don't think Wifey (yes he answers to that) did justice to New Orleans so I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

The city was all dressed up for her big night. The French quarter with it's distinctively quaint architecture housed a number of jazz bars with strains from the trumpets and saxophones floating onto the streets. Each band we heard as we strolled in and out of the bars had it's own sound and quirks. But the best band we heard was an accident, we chanced upon interstellar transmissions (an obscure band with just one video on YouTube which I would highly recommend you check out) playing us at a street corner and joined the crowd who like Us were drawn to the music.







If you disregard for a moment the overwhelming male majority in Bourbon Street that place was quite awesome! The fatigue of the trip was forgotten as we got caught up in the grenade swilling, bead throwing, and boob flashing atmosphere which might be hard to replicate.

On a parting note in case you have any doubts about who the light weight is suffice it to say that I have photographic evidence which I will be willing to part with... For a fee of course.



AD


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:New Orleans, San Antonio

Who Closes at 8:46?? Part 2

The next morning Ruti and I woke up and met up with our friends Ming Hung, Mason, Zedong, and Philip at a crawfish restaurant. Once again we were shocked. How can four small Asian guys (ok Zedong is kinda big), eat 10 pounds of crawfish, 2 crabs, Calamari, gumbo soup, and a pitcher of beer in one sitting? At 11 in the morning???

We begin to notice a trend with this whole asian thing. Anyway, we were grateful we could use their hotel showers (thanks guys!) so they can eat as much as they want.

Afterward, we toured The Lower Ninth Ward, then saw one of the famed Mardi Gras parades.






Ruti had never been to one before but apparently doesn't like them. We then checked out a few jazz bars and called it a night.

We woke up the next morning and headed to San Antonio Texas. What was most surprising was that although we were shivering just a few days earlier, we now found ourselves sweating through our shirts. In other words, San Antonio is HUMID!

We went out to the river walk that night and were pretty amazed by the eclectic group of people out there. And by eclectic I mean just white and Hispanic. It didn't matter. We went out to a couple of bars and a few mixed drinks later found out how much of a lightweight Ruti is. He may talk a big game, but he can't back it up... (ok maybe it's the opposite)

-MH

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:New Orleans and San Antonio

Who Closes at 8:46??

Ok. So last we left you, Ruti and I had hit the road in search of this mythical thing called Mardi Gras. And from what we hear it can only exist in one place, New Orleans. We arrived after a long, 6- hour drive in NOLA on Sunday night, tired and hungry.

So we thought, "let's try a Po'Boy!" If you don't know what that is, you've never been to NOLA. Just imagine a really thick, fat, greasy sandwich. We pull up to the shadiest hole in the wall we've ever seen. Ruti takes one look at me and says, "Maybe we should hide the GPS..." Couldn't agree more. So we hide, then walk towards the door. But before we get there, a man steps out:

"We closed". I look at my watch and it's 8:46.
"Who closes at 8:46? On Mardi Gras??"
"I said we closed," then he shut the door on us.

Dejected, we started to just look for any place to eat. Subway? Closed. Burger King? Closed. Even a 24 hour diner was closed!

Ruti and I began to wonder if we were in the wrong side of town. But before we gave up and left we saw a Dominos delivery place still open. So out of options, we just ordered a pizza and ate it in the car.

This is a good time to explain our living/eating situation. Thanks to Heena, and a 24-hour wal-mart along the road trip route, we were equipped with Peanut Butter, Jelly, tons of cookies, granola bars, tuna, and bread. Tis stays in a cooler in the backseat and becomes our meals when we don't feel like eating Subway anymore.

So where do we sleep? Well for two days in New Orleans we stayed under a lamp post in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Equipped with two cheap pillows and two blankets, and (for Ruti) Breathe Right strips and (for me) Ear plugs. Yes, sad I know, but let's get back to the fun part.

After devouring our pizza like a couple of homeless people (which guess was kinda true) we headed to Bourbon street. When we first hit the very beginning of the street, Naive little Ruti thought we had missed the celebration.

"Just wait..." I assured him.

Before long the street was so packed, we couldn't move! An eclectic collection of really drunk young guys, really drunk old guys, and Christian evangelists telling them they shouldn't be drunk. so by now, you're prolly wondering, "but what about the drunk girls???" Yeah, so were we.



Apparently the only people who want beads at Mardi Gras are men.



So after having a few Hand Grenades and the signature New Orleans, "Big Ass Beer" we called it a night. It's a good thing wal-Mart wasn't closed...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:New Orleans

Doing ATL the Korean way part 2

Hey guys, me again - Melanie :-/.

So the next morning (this is Saturday) we awoke to a rainy day which basically ended hopes of seeing the ATL outside. So after touring Underground Atlanta and The Varsity, we ended the day going to a Korean BBQ place.



Now for those of you who don't know us too well, Ruti and I are pretty big guys, and James and Kenny are, well, Asian. So naturally we expected to be the ones to tear down at this restaurant. But we had another thing coming.

Like an Asian Hurricane Katrina, they blew through that restaurant and destroyed everything in their paths. By the time they left that place, FEMA was already demanding assistance. Ruti and I were STUNNED.

After we awoke from our shock, Ruti and I realized it was Sunday, and started to leave Atl for the great New Orleans. But first we had to get a GPS. And let me say, though we did have to spend $100 it was the greatest investment we've made so far. And it will be an even greater investment when we get back! Because we plan on returning it ;)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Atlanta

Doing ATL the Korean way!

Ford seems to have put a lot of thought into designing and building the focus. The car has a range of beeps from the plaintive you're running low on fuel to a full blown tantrum if we forget to buckle up or leave the lights on. It's so high and light that the slightest gust of wind has it dancing all over the road. And the gas pedal seems to respond on it's own whim. So the road trip begins auspiciously with Mel (now if this name conjures up an image of a pretty Melanie you're in for a surprise) the proud owner of an infinity G 35 cursing every time our moody focus decides to bleat at him.



Fortunately we figured out how to unlock the cars speed control system, that cut down on the bleating a bit. Maybe she is growing on us, even the parents of the most obnoxious kid love it, right?

So ATL with the brief tour of the college town of Athens.

Our gracious host, business magnate, dj extrordinare, Kenny and the soon-to-be multi millionaire dentist James made us believe that perhaps we should have been born Korean (for all you MBAs correlation does mean causality).

The women at the Asian club that we got into (for free! Go Kenny!) had us revisiting our sorrow at having round eyes. Rum and coke, even if it is $12 per drink seemed like a good solution to our misery. The medicine had a way of weeding out the untrue, while it proceeded to lift our spirits James, with no misery to drown was punished with a severe hangover the next day.

We returned in high spirits.... Not a bad start!

AD

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Atlanta

Stops and starts, mostly stops

Finally the day arrived. The bar is behind me and Ruti finished all his work. So it's time to hit the road right?

Well yeah, but first we had to do a few simple things, like... Get Ruti a drivers license, pick up a rental car, pack something, book some hotel rooms... Ok so we didn't quite think this trip through.

So first we went to the DMV to get a drivers license. Little did we know how hard that would be.






Once Ruti walks into the center the guy asks, "do you have your proof of insurance"
Ruti: "I didnt get insurance because I don't own a car"
Officer: "Well son, you need insurance to get a license"
Ruti: "But can I just get the fleet license that doesn't require insurance?"
Officer: "Yes. But you cant take the drivers test without a fleet (rental) car"
Ruti: "But to rent a fleet car I need a license!"
Officer: "Sounds like you got a problem, son."

Dejected, Ruti walked out of the DMV. A few hours later we found out it would cost $1000 for him to get insurance, JUST to get a license. Needless to say, he didn't get one. Plus, apparently he is still on the governments terrorist watch list, so getting a license was the least of his problems.

Fast forward- we start finally packing clothes, and thinking about what we need to bring. Next, we head to Raleigh to pick up our rental car, which is going to be our best friend for the next two weeks. So did we get a HUGe upgrade like last time???

Not exactly. "Here you go sir. A Ford Escort. And if you leave your seatbelt off your radio will cut off on you. And if you drive faster than 70, the car will stop accelerating. Enjoy!"




Well at least we have a car I guess. So after all of this, we were completely worn out. Looks like were not gonna hit the road until tomorrow. Sorry guys...

-MH


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Durham, NC

Back by popular demand....

Well you asked for it!






From the producers that brought you "Melvin and James do America 2009", and "The Shades of Brown 2011 SuperBowl Party", comes the latest installment: Shades of Brown Do America!

Yes that's right... From March 3 to March 20, come ride with us as we take you on one crazy adventure in the cheapest, crappiest car $17 perm day can buy!





Here are some of the questions we've gotten:

Q: Why are you driving all the way to California?
A: Because biking would take to long.

Q: Why are you called Shades of Brown?
A: uh, how did you get into Fuqua?

Q: Are you going to be back in time for school?
A: School?! We graduating fool!

Q: Where all are you going?
A: Atlanta! New Orleans! San Antonio! El Paso! Las Vegas! San Diego! Los Angeles!

Q: But isn't gas really expensive right now?
... Oh yeah ... Well, we are also accepting donations!

That's all folks! Keep looking out for our next blog posts!

-MH






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad