Welcome to the best page of all. This is the page that allows you to see through a small window into my life. This is the page that will allow you to see what type of life I have along with my other friends...this is: The HILARIOUS Road Trips page!!!
Okay...so maybe it's not all I've made it seem to be...but at least I had to pull you in with some type of line! Anyway...keep reading, at least for a little while!!! You may not regret it! Heck! You might even get a chuckle or two out of the whole deal! You might even ENJOY yourself or something!!! Ok. I'm getting all excited. Just read!
Ok...so you're saying to yourself, what the HECK is Petit Jean Mountain? Well, to that I say, "IT'S A BIG-ASS MOUNTAIN!!! THAT'S WHAT!!!" Just kidding. Actually, it's one of the first road trips my boyfriend Scott and I made together, along with his best friend Nick. Okay...so we took Nick's truck. Man WAS IT PACKED IN THERE! Nick has a GMC extended cab two-wheel drive. Well, anyway, so we took off one day to Petit Jean Mountain, which is, by the way, in north Arkansas. It's pronounced Petty Jean...it's French or something. I end up having to drive most of the way there. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive. We FINALLY get close to the park and the road starts getting very steep and winding...Nick about shits himself! Anyway, so we pick a spot and they set up the tent (you know how men have to do that sort of thing so that they can feel all macho and stuff...). We toss the football around a little...this place is just beautiful!!! Then we go hiking a little.
The Hiking Trail
Okay. So we start out and the hiking is easy...but what we didn't know was that we'd get off the 'easy' trail and get on one of the 'advanced' trails! Here we are climbing rocks and jumping huge gullies. Nick is huffing and puffing along because he's just not in the best shape...lol. I'm sweating like a stuck pig because, well, I sweat badly!!! Ok, so I admit that now!. And Scott (the very athletic guy) is just as happy as can be. I'm enjoying myself, but in dire need of a shower. Anyway, so finally Nick gets us to start back...PROBLEM: we have lost the trail markings. We search and search, and finally climb this HUGE rock and then we see a marking. HOME!!! We're back! That's what WE think. It's still a long walk back.
Well, as long as Lyndsi and I have known each other (since birth), we've never gone on a road trip alone. We've always been with other people.
Starting Out
It took us FOREVER to get started! There was this whole thing at work where I had to finish a web site. My brother gave me a deadline--THAT DAY! It was fun working on the web site and stuff, but by the end of the day I was so tired of looking at a screen that I wanted to SCREAM! I still had to go home and pack and eat because I had worked through lunch to get the web site up and running. I ran home, packed a bag and headed to McDonald's. I grabbed a 1/4 lb. with cheese and sped over to Scott's. He had a map for us to use and I wanted to change into my favorite pair of jeans that I had left at his house. We said our goodbyes and I ran to Lyndsi's house. Then their friend Tracy pulled up and we had to talk to her for a second. Then we said our goodbyes there and we were off. Then we had to stop in the next town and get something to drink. At that gas station, we saw Lyndsi's half sisters' half sister and brother. They had had a wreck earlier and we had to hear all about that. FINALLY we got back on the road again!
On the Road Again!
Back on the road, we settled in and talked about everything, from the wreck to people we know and what we were going to do in Wynne. This wasn't bad, but I won't bore you with the details. I just thought I'd tell you a little bit about the trip. We had to pull over a few times along the way to make sure we were on the right trail. Then we had to call and get directions to their house. It was so funny! Lyndsi talked to Natali, then she gave me the phone, then Natali had to give the phone to Keith. No one knew how to tell us to get there and neither Lyndsi or me is good at remembering directions...mass confusion. Well, we get there and I take the first turn, but you had to like swing around and get on the wrong side of the road right after that, and I missed that turn. We went back in the 'hood and stopped before we got any more lost. We stopped in front of this one bar that looked scary. I finally found the right way and the right road...I retraced our steps and made a few illegal turns before getting right again. We called Natali and she told us that she would come outside. A few seconds after I hung up, we saw Natali dart outside and to the road. It was so cute! It was about 10:30 p.m. when we got there and it was pitch dark, but you could still tell it was Natali running.
Ahhhh....there.
So we got there in one piece and we got the grand tour of the house. Natali has this Cosmo hairstyle program for her computer and we watched her put different hairstyles on her face. Then I taught Natali a little bit about a web page. You can see her masterpiece here. We stayed up until forever and finally, when we had to pull out the old toothpicks to keep our eyes open, we drug ourselves away from the computer and went to bed. I had to sleep on the top bunk--Lyndsi got the bottom. I have this little phobia about bunk beds, but I won't get into that right now. I was too tired to even think about it. The next thing I know, it's morning. I roll over and look down at Lyndsi. I said, "Lyndsi, it's morning time!! Wake up." As soon as I said that, Elmo came flying at my face. Natali has a Tickle Me Elmo and Lyndsi had slept with it. She has a terrible time with waking up in the mornings. I'm just glad that she doesn't sleep with a bat!
Breakfast and Afterwards
We pile in Natal's truck and head to town. We grab a biscuit from Burger King and we decide to look for something to do. We drive to the pool, but it was early May and it wouldn't open until Memorial Day. We go back to Nat's and watch t.v., take showers, play with hairstyles on the pc, and mess around. The day was beautiful, but we were wasting it inside! We FINALLY decide to go to Jonesboro, but it starts raining!! We had waited all that time and didn't get to do what we really wanted. We end up going to the grocery store and then to the liquor store. We come out with a huge box of liquor and drive back to Nat's.
Cookin' and DRANKIN'
Keith comes home and we make him cook our burgers on the grill. We pull out the liquor and start right away. We ate and played cards and quarters. We had fun fun fun. Then Keith comes up with the idea of pitching pennies. We find out that we suck bad at pitching pennies and are growing sleepy b/c of the liquor. We watch a lil t.v. and head to bed.
"Easy Like Sunday Morning..."
Sunday morning arrives and of course, we make Keith cook. I somehow ended up with the duty of making scrambled eggs. We scarf the breakfast down (or I did, anyway), and get ready to go play tennis. We go to Wal-Mart and bought balls and headed up a long and winding road to the courts. Lyndsi got car sick and almost vomited on the way. Wynne is such an odd mixture of new and old that it looks funny. Parts of the town are so old that you wonder why anyone lives there. It didn't age well. Other parts are new and overlook a type of valley b/c it's on a ridge. It's really beautiful. We play tennis in a park until some rednecks come along and just about hog the whole thing. We get tired and leave. We get back, take showers and say our goodbyes. Lyndsi and I left the house trashed...I still feel bad about that.
On the Road AGAIN!"
We head home. It feels so weird driving for a long time again. I really don't won't to bore you with the details. I'll just tell you that I missed a turn and had to turn around again and some bug or bird or something flew in my window at one point in the trip. Whatever it was flew in and under my seat. I was too scared to look and see what it was. It got my seatbelt wet.
Finally...
We FINALLY get home, but I have to run to the gas station b/c my car was running on fumes. I drop her off at her house and I go to Scott's, where he made me work in the yard for a little bit. Then we go get something to eat and go to sleep...ahhh...HOME!
(NOTE: I will have pictures of the Wynne, AR trip on here as soon as I get them developed!)
Well, Scott and I celebrated our one year anniversary on Friday, August 6. My present to him was to bring him and his best friend Nick to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Memphis, TN. They were playing on August 7th, so we left Saturday around 2 pm.
A Close Call!
Scott wanted to drive, so I let him. We took my car, so Nick was squished into the front seat. He's really tall and I don't think Acura Integra Sports Coupes were made for him. Scott and I had to rotate driving so the one in the back wouldn't have to have their legs amputated from no blood running to them. Anyway, Scott was driving and we had just stopped in a little town in Arkansas called DeWitt. Scott bought a 22 ounce beer and a cop saw him (he's 21 but there is a no open container law in Arkansas). We pulled out and about 5 miles down the road we were stopped. The guy carded all of us! Nick and I are both 20. Scott was honest and told him that he had just bought that one beer...but what the cop didn't know was that we had an ice chest full! Scott had already opened his beer but the little ring didn't break, so Scott was SAVED!!! Thank goodness for miracles. He only got one sip out of that beer. He didn't drink until we got to the motel. Nick also threw away the beer he had been drinking. I had stuck it beside the ice chest. It's a good thing we didn't get searched!
My Turn to Drive!
Well, later on, Scott allows me to drive and so I get the fun job of driving in Memphis. It wasn't that bad, however. No motels had any vacancies, so we had to go back to West Memphis, which is in Arkansas, to stay. We wanted to take a cab back to the Pyramid where the concert was, but it was gonna cost us $44!!! I ended up having to drive there. At least I got a good parking spot! It was a parking lot for tiny cars, and I have a tiny car.
The Concert
We get in and Scott and Nick get their "I'm 21 So Don't Card Me" wrist bands. They get drinks and we find our seats. Lucinda Williams opened for them. They are pretty good. She sang about 8 songs or so...even one of Tom Petty's. Then Tom and the boys came out. They were so awesome! We got so drunk, and then afterwards, we decided to go down to Beale St.
Beale Street
Well, I've been to Beale Street a lot, but of course we had to go back again! You can't go to Memphis without going! It was alright. We didn't do much because Scott got into a bad mood and got me into one. I didn't even get anything to drink. Nick decided he would pay $10 for a drink with no alcohol in it. Those people on Beale St. surely know how to rip someone off!
We did get into a bar free of charge and without the hassle of getting carded, but Nick seemed bored. He especially let us know in his subtle manner that he wanted to leave the bar when he turned around and said, "Let's go." Nuff said.
Lost in Memphis
We finally find where I parked the car and we tried to drive back to the motel but we got lost for about 30 minutes. I think we were somewhere around Canada by the time Nick finally said he would get directions. The girl who gave him the directions did a good job. We finally found the bridge to get back to the room, but we were starving. We went into this 24 hour restaurant where we didn't get served, so we left and raided the vending machines at the motel and passed out.
On the Road...AGAIN!
The drive home was pretty uneventful except for the fact that I had to yell at Nick to make him shut up. He started being really obnoxious and so I told him to shut his &@#!% mouth! He was quiet for about 30 minutes and I was so relieved. When we finally got home we took a long nap and recovered. =o)
Well. To start with, I suppose I can tell you WHY we went to New Orleans. December 2nd was Scott's birthday and the Denver Broncos is his favorite football team. The Broncos were playing the New Orleans Saints on December 3rd, so seeing as how New Orleans is the closest professional team to us, we figured this would be our best chance at getting to see the Broncos play!
The trip to New Orleans was really uneventful - until we got to New Orleans! We couldn't find our hotel. We drove all over the French Quarter because we couldn't turn around to go back to the street our hotel was supposed to be on! We FINALLY get turned around and we had to stop a million times to ask where our hotel was located. Someone finally knew what we were talking about. When we found the hotel, we didn't really know where to park our vehicle. As it turns out, the nice people had to park our vehicle for us...then they kindly charged us $20 the next day. How SWEET!
The little bellhop guy came out and took our "luggage". We actually use duffel bags that do not even come close to matching! So here we are in a very nice hotel, and we're looking like the biggest rednecks to ever come out of Arkansas. Okay, so we didn't look THAT bad, but I sure felt like a retard standing in the lobby wearing overalls. LOL!
The room was really nice. There was even a playstation in there in case we got bored enough. We got dressed immediately and took off walking towards Bourbon Street. It just happened to be FREAKIN' COLD the weekend we decided to go! We nearly froze to death as we walked, but we kept a quick pace to stay a little warm. We stopped at a few bars and had a few drinks. Then we hear this HUGE commotion! We turn around and there is this firetruck going about 50 mph down through the French Quarter with a load of screaming individuals in Santa hats throwing beads and tiny stuffed Santas. We tried to get them to throw something our way, but they drove by too quickly. We got all depressed for about 10 seconds, then got another drink.
We decided that we were hungry, so we ate in a little seafood place that was actually really nice. I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you that it was VERY good food.
We went out again after we ate, and started drinking again. We went to a lot more bars, and met the firetruck party again. This time we scored some necklaces and a tiny Santa! The firetruck was so hilarious. We would just be walking and we'd hear this loud grumble and screaming....and necklaces would start flying! The firetruck drove around all night long. They probably had more fun than anyone walking around!
We ended up going to Pat O'Brien's (for the second time that night), and we just stood around, trying to get warm. The place we were standing was actually a courtyard...it was really great. We ended up meeting Mitch and Donna. They were really great and funny. They said they were from Lafayette, Louisiana...which I could tell they were from somewhere close by. They had the cutest accent! With them, we went to a lot of bars and drank a lot of alcohol. I'm not even sure of what time we got back to our room, but as soon as I laid down, I got nauseated. I'll spare you the details, but I'll just tell you that I ended up sleeping in the bathroom. Scott brought a pillow and a blanket for me so I would be a little more comfy. I got mad the next day because the bed was so comfortable. At least I got a few hours of sleep in the bed that next morning. Well, after a $42 dollar room service breakfast that I couldn't even eat (but Scott ate his), we had to get ready. It took me sooo long because I was so sick, but I finally got ready. Then it took us FOREVER to get a parking spot, so we were about 30-45 minutes late for the game. I can't really remember what went on at the game, but the Broncos kicked butt! We had a great time there.
It took us two hours to get out of New Orleans because of all the traffic. It was crazy! But all in all, we had a good time and spent too much money. However, I could wait a while before going back there. =o)
The Hiking Trail
Back at the Camp
