New Roads...well sort of

It's been a while--again. New roads to travel...new roads being traveled as I type. I am revisiting the route called marriage. I plan to stay on this road for a much longer time than the last go around. Took a detour for a while and explored some bumpy, off the beaten paths. But, I am back on the superhighway of matrimony, armed with some great navigation techniques.

Until next time.

Objects May Be Closer Than They Appear

The I-10 corridor headed eastbound out of San Antonio was fast on Saturday as we headed home. We had to head back to Atlanta. Alas, finals were upon us. I wanted to stay one more day in San Antonio. I admit, I acted like a borderline 5 year old who didn't want to leave the candy store. I was having too much fun!

But here at Road Trippin', we can have fun in a car. That's the point silly! We knew we were driving toward the rain. We chose I-10 because the serious stuff was north of us on I-20. That and neither of us had ever driven through Houston. So it was another city to check off the list.

This is my artsy picture

I commented driving through Dallas, and I will comment again about the drive through Houston: Texas drivers stink! I know my cousin is going to read this. Oh no, I'm not apologizing. I have never seen such crap driving. Not even in Atlanta. Well, maybe a little. But this was magnified. Repeat after me, "The left lane is for passing!!" The last time I recall such selfish driving was in Minnesota. And ya know, I-35 is connected from MN to TX...I'm just saying.

It was a true test to Rich's driving abilities. Well, maybe not abilities, but definitely patience. I mean really, do you have to speed up when someone is trying to pass you because you are going the speed limit? Who drives the speed limit? 6-15 mph over (depending on which state, what time of day and where you're driving) at least!

And then we saw him:

He was like a little silver bullet cutting through the traffic. We knew we had to join his little party. We stayed on him for about 100 miles, going...well, let's just say we made some good time. We enjoyed watching him zig and zag...nimble little sucker that he is. He did this in ways that, alas, we could not. But we always caught up to him.

We finally decided to back off and let the Porsche ride off into the sunset. We looked at each other and sighed, "That was fun."

Just as I was settling in for some "at the speed limit limit" driving I looked in the rear view and saw this guy:

Ladies and gentlemen the Chrysler 300...uh, well, just a 300. Not a 300 SRT8. Now that would have been a fun little game. He tried to keep up, but failed miserably. When we were in Phoenix a couple weeks ago one of the students was a 300 SRT8 owner. He referred to it as his "Executive Muscle Car". This was a case where the object was not closer than it appeared.

Ah, good times.

Why it's Better to Drive - Reason # 37

While in Phoenix we learned that they do not have an abundance of local cuisine. Well, that is what we were told by the locals anayway. In Atlanta, you look for great barbeque. In Texas, the perfect steak. NYC, the perfect slice of pizza or bagel. But in Phoenix, uh, well they have chains.

So we stopped to fill up with gas and I ran in to ask the attendant where we could find a restaurant. He pointed down the road and said, hang a right and you will come across many restaurants.

As we drove, and enjoyed the scenery, I saw the glow of red neon. Stop the car! We have arrived! This is where we are dining tonight!

When you don't drive, you don't find little gems like this one:



If you have never had an In-N-Out burger, the next time you find yourself in Arizona or west, keep your eyes peeled. They have great burgers and yummy shakes. And, two people can get out of their for less than $20, including a t-shirt, sans hearburn. Good deal!

Hyatt-Richardson – Not so High on Our List

After our initial Hyatt visit in San Diego at the Manchester we had expectations of the level of service we should receive at any Hyatt. We are staying at the Hyatt in Richardson, TX. Although it is not a Grand Hyatt, we assumed a Hyatt Regency would provide a level of service that was…uh, comparable?

The Greeting
My red flags should have gone up when the bellman asked if we were staying a long time, since I had groceries. I had to explain to this person that we drove 12 hours and when people take long road trips it is practical to pack a cooler and snacks. Every time I run this comment back through my mind I get more insulted. And it takes a lot to insult me. Needless to say, we got off on the wrong foot.

The Room
It was a corner room. I thought a corner room would be larger. This was not to be the case. It was L-shaped and cramped. Since the parking lot was empty, we figured we would request to be moved. They accommodated our request and moved us over two rooms.

The second room was better. It was a standard layout. Since we were staying two nights, why not be comfortable? As we moved our luggage into the room I did notice we lost the little fridge (dang-it!) and gained a view of the freeway (shakes head). Karma is a funny thing, isn’t it?

Happy Holidays
Brace yourself—I am getting fired up now.

I am guessing that the staff at the Hyatt is under the assumption that holiday travelers are different from other travelers. There was no paper delivered and no extra services available that are available every other day of the year. I must say, I am not happy about this.

The heater in our room blows cold air, but says the temp is 80 degrees. This is completely unacceptable…in any hotel.

And finally, our breakfast experience. The buffet looked good. But the eggs were cold, the cream curdled in my cold coffee, and my pancakes tasted like they were bathed in oil. And I have a "cast-iron stomach". I asked to receive new coffee and I tried another trip up to the eggs to order station. I ordered a cheese omelet. I thought, surely this should be good. But when I sat down to eat it the cheese was barely melted. And Rich’s omelet was the same.

We ate cereal.

Maybe we should look into a career in hotel reviews. But I have to ask my readers, am I expecting too much?

The Roadtrip to a Family Experience

We decided to drive to Dallas over the holiday to see my cousin Michelle. I have not seen her in 13 years!! Rich proposed the idea and of course I was on-board. Upon calling Michelle and asking her what her thoughts were on us hanging with the family for the holiday she was very excited. Apparently, so was my aunt.

Michelle: My mom did a happy dance when I told her you were coming to visit.

Me: She did a happy dance? I want to see that. So she's OK if we crash her turkey dinner?

Michelle: My mom bought a 20 lb turkey, 3 pies and she's baking a cake. Not to mention she sent me out for 5 lbs of ground beef so she can make great-grandma Laville's stuffing.

Me: Good grief! 5 lbs??! Wait, we have family recipes??????

Family is a funny thing. I can't say my family is close. My dad's side is non existent. So I will not even elaborate on them at this point. But here is how my immediate and mom's side breaks down:

I have 1 half-brother and half-sister. I say "half" because I grew up referring to them as my brother and sister, but clearly into adulthood they developed their own agendas and I am no longer part of their life.

My mom had/has (not sure how to qualify that) 4 siblings. From oldest it went: Uncle David, my mom (deceased), Uncle Bill (deceased), Aunt Nayla, Aunt Debbie.

There are quite a few grandchildren. But I will list the one important cousin in this whole mess, my cousin Michelle. She is the daughter of the youngest of my mom's siblings, Debbie. Clearly, she and I are the only two in the family who care enough to reciprocate communication (never mind those two blips when we lost contact).

The neat thing about Michelle and me is how we have seemed to repeat the relationship our mothers had. My aunt was very close to my mom and when my mother passed when I was 9 it struck my aunt very deeply. I did not know this until very recently. In fact there was a lot I didn't know until very recently.

I am so happy that I am to spend the holiday with my cousin today and see my aunt and other relatives. I am especially happy to share this with Rich and eventually with Alex. My aunt Debbie has already made the proclamation that Alex will call her Grandma Debbie. Because he never knew my mom, she wants to fill that gap. I am speechless about this.

The memories I have of my family on this side is fuzzy and muddled with strange memories. So to hear this from my aunt just makes me feel all that more strongly about how important family can be in one's life.

Well, I'm off to prepare for the big day of turkey and the Dallas Thanksgiving Day Game...in Dallas. How cool is that?

The Smell of Asphalt, the Taste of Glory: Part2

The day started off early on the performance track. Yeah, I know, I'm working backwards! I had to share the best first!

The first SRT vehicle I was introduced to was a manual Caliber SRT4. But that's okay. We all have to start somewhere.
The team challenge in the Jeep was pretty fun. This is how it played out:

Psycho (she was our crew chief): "Okay, we will go in order of tallest to shortest driver. It is easier for me to move the seat forward."

Me: Let me just moved to the back of the line immediately.

Psycho: "So this is how it's gonna work. The first driver will get in and drive the course. When they finish, the next driver will be at the ready to get in the car. The first driver will get out of the car with the seat belt in hand stepping back toward the back passenger door to allow the next driver to get in. They will hand the new driver the seat belt so they may strap in and go."

Alright, it seems easy enough. But some people had a little more trouble than others. I got the pep talk from Psycho (cause who wouldn't want a pep talk from someone named Psycho!) about what I had to do as the last driver.

The Smell of Asphalt, the Taste of Glory! Part 1

This past Sunday was one of the coolest days I have ever experienced. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get a chance to test drive and beat the hell out of several different cars in one day!

The SRT Drive school that Chrysler has is a full day of adrenaline pumping, tire-screaming, engine-revving excitement!!!

They break the day out into several "modules":

• Advanced Car Control
• Autocross
• Full-Throttle Challenge
• Performance Drive
• Hot Laps

Advanced Car Control/Autocross

Of course the first module of the day, 'adv car control', they put me in a Caliber SRT4, which is a manual transmission.

"I can't drive a manual transmission," I lean in with a whisper to my crew chief.

"No worries," she says. "We'll put another instructor in there and get you moving. Besides, you won't come out of 1st gear for this module."

Cool.

Later, with two engine stalls and the worst times recorded, we move onto the Viper course. (I did drive the Jeep in the first module and that was pretty sweet though!)

The Viper. Can I just say how hot of a car this is? I mean...

Tell me that isn't hot. I dare you!

Yep. Stalled the engine in that baby, too. Such is life. I had fun. And I did get better at getting the car into gear, so it wasn't a total bust.

Full Throttle Challenge

The next couple hours were spent getting into Chargers, Magnums, 300's and Jeeps sitting side-by-side. With the call of one of the instructors, "Drivers ready?!?!!" we watched the amber lights count down to green, where we put all of our might onto the gas...and then brake just as hard!!!
We were timed on our reaction time, as well as how long it to to race the track. They averaged the times out and the best drive won. After a few test runs we were assigned numbers, and the competition began.

I did well in my first couple races but then was promptly knocked to the bottom. All kept saying was, "Would someone beat that other guy who keeps winning!" And this is how it played out:

I handed the guy in the Black Jeep his walking papers when I left him in my dust!

The instructor on the right handed me my time and told me to get my rear into the Red Magnum, so I could race in the finals.

This is where I looked directly at Rich and said, "How in the hell did I make it into the finals?"

I quickly sized up the track once last time. Did a little trash talking, which was encouraged!

We raced neck and neck! I put everything I had into the gas!

As I got out of the car begging the guy on the left tell me I was starting down at the time ticket which said, "Winner". But it didn't quite register...

Until here. All I could do was smile as everyone applauded me. The moron who can't drive a stick, but can kick tail in a drag race!!!

I swore the next time we did this (and there will be a next time, oh yes, there will) I will know how to drive a manual transmission.

Cars are cool. Enough said.