Well, 7 days and 2500 miles later I am home. Ok, so this is nine days later, but I got home two days ago, was just too pooped to post till now! So, here comes a full report, it might get long, but it's good stuffs!

First off, a big, big, big thank you to everyone who put us up for a night (or 4, in Fer's case) on our trip, that cut out all hotel expenses, and with gas for the trip running around $120, that is a very, very good thing!

We left Augusta Monday morning around 9:30am, after I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for an atlas, an ice chest, and some ice to keep the water bottles I'd bought previously cold and a quick stop by the shop to get Becca and me each a cup of fresh roasted, fresh brewed coffee, a last taste of the fresh tasting goodness that is fresh roasted coffee to get us through the next week that was sure to be filled with little coffee and probably none that was roasted two days prior!

The first part of our trek lead us through Norcross, GA, a suburb of Atlanta (used to be boonies, but Atlanta has grown a lot in the past decade and a half that I've been traveling through it) where the Mike of Roderick (Sorry, he doesn't update often) resides (at least until this coming Friday, then he'll depart for his parents' house in Florida and then in a couple of weeks for Boston, MA where he will be attending graduate school). Mike had wanted us to stop by so he could give us some things that he is trying to get rid of before he moves, as he'll be heading to Florida and then later up to Boston in a small sedan and doesn't have enough room for all of his stuff. Most of the things he gave me I am going up tomorrow to get, as our car was semi-full of stuff and he has a lot of things he's giving me, including about 25 or so books and a computer. I'm also buying his 8-bit Nintendo system off him. So we hung out with him and grabbed some lunch at a French bistro that Becca had gone to with him once and the Lovely one, Chris had gone there with the Mike of Roderick and the Mike of Springstead once before. The food was great indeed.

So after a couple of hours in the Atlanta Metro Area my sister and I set out once again on the I-20, headed west, then cut up to Columbus, MS at Tuscaloosa, AL. In Columbus we met up with the aforementioned Mike of Springstead, had some Mexican food with him and made our way to his house where we stayed the night. Our night was filled with watching the very famous indie film, Robin Hood: The No Horses Version, complete with live writer/director/filmographer's commentary from one Michael Springstead and the Blue Man Group concert DVD.

These two Mike's whom we saw on Monday went to William Carey College with Becca and me and were both music students. Mike of Roderick started with Becca and graduated the same year as us. Mike of Springstead was, I think, a Jr. the year I started college and graduated a year before me.

Tuesday morning found us waking up bright and not too terribly early and heading north, through the birthplace of Elvis (Tupelo, MS) and his famous hometown, Memphis, TN, across I-40, up I-540, and into Springdale. Becca now knows that not ALL of Arkansas is terribly ugly, flat, and boring as deltas tend to be. Northwest Arkansas is actually very nice. So we went to Audra's house (She is the girlfriend of one Billy/Guardian, a guy we met online back in the glory days of #ZJam, an IRC chatroom who, at the time, lived near us in New Orleans) and waited for Billy to get back. We then made our way to Taco Bell where we met up with Richard/Ender (husband to one SunnyOne Sara, a Vagrant for those who do not know) and had some dinner. Stayed that night with Audra while Billy worked. The next day Billy showed us the amazing sights of the area, including a prayer/meditation park and the home office of Wal-Mart (It was exciting, let me tell you!).

Set out from Springdale early Wednesday evening, making our way up to Bolivar, MO to the home of the one who started this whole road trip thing for us. (Well, I should say she didn't really start it so much as we had originally planned the whole thing to see her, it just sort of evolved into what it became over time, as we had to move the trip up a couple of days due to work stuff and then push it back because she would not be in town on the Monday that we planned to arrive after the first change, instead she would not be home until Wednesday, so we added in some visits here and there to make use of our time off, and to spread the trip out into more driveable sections, and to avoid using hotel rooms.) We arrived at Fer's barn apartment at around 9pm I believe.

Fer, for those of you who may not know, is short for Jennifer and is also a girl we met in 1997 on the Louisiana Baptist All State Youth Choir trip that summer. We have, the three of us, been friends ever since, and claim each other as siblings. However, for this week we were cousins as Fer's landlord won't let people of different gender stay in the apartment unless they are family and he knows she only has one blood sibling, a sister.

Mostly our time with Fer was spent in Springfield, about 30 minutes south of Bolivar and with far more things to occupy our time than Bolivar itself. Most of that time on Thursday was spent in a coffee shop called the Mud House, a very nice atmosphere and very good espresso. I didn't try any of their brewed coffee, but they do micro-roasts there so I'm sure it's very good. Our fears of not having access to fresh roasted coffee on this trip were for naught!! We wandered around downtown some, and then drove around Springfield, ending up at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, a store I had previously been scared to go into. A fear founded only in my desire to keep money in my checkbook, and not at what the store might hold as it might be for many guys. My fears were well founded, as I did not get away without spending about $30. I got a nifty measuring cup and a digital kitchen thermometer, both as seen often on Alton Brown's show, Good Eats.

Friday was spent lounging around for the most part, and then I cooked some food for the three of us and Fer's friend Jessica. (See, Becca? I remembered her name! Be surprised, be very surprised!) I fixed a nice little veggie and chicken dish with pesto sauce served with penne pasta. We then went back to downtown Springfield, where they were having a first Friday art walk (first Friday of every month). We wandered around, popping into little art exhibits all around downtown, and ending up at the Mud House again, where Becca and I both had very good macchiatos . Friday's only real drama came when sometime that afternoon, a little while after Becca had put some cantaloupe rind down the food disposal, when the drains for the whole building became backed up. Thankfully, after a short while and some panic, the problem fixed itself.

Saturday was the crowning glory, in my opinion, of the entire trip. A moment I, and I believe my sister and possibly Fer, had long awaited was to come to be. Today we would meet the 007 family, a much respected and loved family who used to frequent the Vagrant Café, and still make the occasional appearance to update us all on their lives. Becca, Fer, and myself set out towards Tulsa, OK that morning, arriving around 11am, half an hour early of our appointed meeting time with Lemuel, and got a call from Lem saying he'd be late. I drove down into the downtown Tulsa area, intending to just drive until we heard from Lem again. Not ten minutes after getting off the interstate we got a call from Dharma of the 007s saying they had gotten done early with what they had to do that morning and we could meet them then, so she gave me directions to a park where we'd meet up with Darin. He likes to meet people away from the house first, before bringing them into his home with his kids and all.

We got to the park (after a few run red lights and one wrong park stop) and met Darin and his youngest daughter, known as Trinity on the café. He led us to his house a couple of blocks away where we met the rest of their family (There is his wife "Dharma," his youngest son who has gone by "Lil-Bond" or somesuch, and the two older daughters, "Bubbles," and "Frosticle." I think they said they are 9, 11, 14, and 16, (Trinity being the 11 year old).). (Gotta love my use of nested parenthetical statements!) We had a delicious pasta and veggie salad for lunch and then set out in the car, "Marge," to get the Lem who was now waiting at a gas station. However, upon piling the two adult 007s, the three of us, and Lem into Marge Darin decided it was too crowded and that, despite the lack of AC we would take the Mystery Machine van (it's not green nor does it have flowers on it, however, and I'm not sure if they still call it the Mystery Machine, even, but it will always be known as that to me).

So after getting into the van, a much less crowded ride, we set out to be shown around the city of Tulsa. They showed us some of their favourite places, and let us see the "center of the universe" as they call it, an odd modern "scuplture" downtown with a spot where when you talk you hear the echo off all the surrounding buildings. Interesting acoustical thing, that. We also saw a long line of young girls camping out waiting to get tickets to an upcoming Hanson concert, how funny. They took us by the building they want to open a club in, and then to a vintage clothing store a friend of theirs owns. We visited a couple of other shops they have friends at and then returned home to get the kiddos.

With the 007 family now in Marge and the three of us and Lem in my Honda we traveled around the city some more, on a quest to find some Jones soda for Becca. We also stopped by a huge and scary Christian bookstore to meet a friend of Dharma's and then to a large used CD/Video/DVD/Game/Comic book/paperback/action figure store where I picked up a Chieftains CD. (Passing through what they affectionately refer to as "Hellville," the pop-culture part of the city filled with malls, mega-chain "casual" dining places, and fast food.

We got home and had a cook out, consisting of hot dogs and veggie burgers from Morning Star (the 007s, for those who do not know, are vegetarians, at least some of them) and corn. Also had some steamed okra. We spent the rest of the night hanging out in their living room talking and discussing. I got some pictures of the event which I'll scan eventually and post here (Well, most of one roll was taken by the youngest daughter, who had much fun snapping pictures with my camera, she did a pretty good job of it mostly, too).

We departed there around 11pm and got back to Bolivar around 2:30am.

Sunday Becca and I slept till sort of late and made preparations to leave by noon. By 12:30 we were ready to go, but we decided to wait on Fer to get home from church and have lunch with her. After some Subway Becca and I set out down some state highways, across the northeastern corner of AR and into Memphis again. From Memphis we headed northeast into Jackson where we met up with Rae, another Vagrant friend of ours, who we had met a few times when he lived in Birmingham, AL. Rae is now married and has a beautiful little daughter named Zoe. It was 9pm by the time we got there, and Rae had to work in the morning, so after some coffee (Rae is a bigger coffee geek than my sister and I, for now at least because we keep becoming bigger coffee geeks, and has his own espresso machine and such. We had some good french press coffee with him) and chatting, and some Family Guy, Sealab, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force we all headed for bed. (Well, Zoe had been going to bed for a while, but kept waking up. That kid has those two wrapped around her little finger, haha, so cute!)

Monday found us waking up and hitting the road by around 10:30. On a whim we called up Holly (another Vagrant) who lives in Nashville, in order to find if she would be around for lunch when we passed through. Indeed, she was, and we met her and her friend for lunch at a Mexican place. After lunch Becca and I set off once again, for the last leg of our journey. We drove down to Chattanooga and into Atlanta, from there it was a straight shot home. One stop at a rest area above Chattanooga that was on a lake with a beautiful mountain vista for some photography was made, some of those will make an appearance here later, too. We got home around 9:30pm Monday night. And thus ended the Great Vagrant Road Trip of 2004.



(Trip to MO in Yellow, Tulsa trip in blue, return trip in pink, all stops marked in green.)
- posted by Nick @ 8/11/2004 01:49:00 PM | 0 comments