Dawson and Jennys American tour

The forth of July

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:45:00 +0000

After one final push, and our longest day of driving we made it to the Salt Lake Valley in 8 hours.
Our stay in Utah began with working in Grandmas backyard in Rose Park, Utah. We got really dirty and really stinky and had a blast, pulling weeds and putting down a little porch for her! Im pretty sure we were just glad to be out of the car.

After all the hard work we did some eating, that was some good corn on the cob.

And we decided that the best way to end a long road trip is by playing with fire and blowing things up. Its a good thing it was the forth of July!

Mt. Rushmore: the west side of SD

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:11:00 +0000

on the otherside of SD we found Mt Rushmore, which was strangley disappointing

turns out the actual Mount was much more impressive

and we took some time to take it in

Corn Palace, South Dakota

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:45:00 +0000

i dont even know what to say about this place, after 7 thousand miles, we come to Mitchell, South Dakota, and we find this

corny doesnt begin to describe it

not even close

in the 1800's, Lincoln paid people to settle the SD plains, they found it was well suited to growing corn, they build up this "Corn Palace" to house civic events, over time famous entertainers came there to perform. every year they redecorate it inside and out with corn murals, this hallway has photos dating back a hundred years.

i guess there's so much cheap, government subsidised corn that they started making murals out of it. it hurts me deep down to my libertarian bones

otherwise, SD was a nice drive, it was good to be away from the east and all those trees.

Baraboo Wisconsin: the circus lives on

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:10:00 +0000

past Chicago, at the beginning of our long push toward home, we came across a gem, Baraboo Wisconsin, home of Barnum and Bailey Circus, where you can see clowns, and wild creatures like this one - yikes!!

they've been in this small nowhere town for 120 years. can you imagine the scene that must have ensued as the talented and freaks of the world decended on this unsuspecting little place.

i contented myself with the fat lady

we wandered aground the ancient and hallowed circus grounds and admired all the well travelled artifacts. we saw how clowns are born

we saw the stupidest animal in the jungle, with an apparent attention span of about 3 mintues

and one of the smartest and suprisingly talented, we actually watched these elephants walk on a ball, and skip!! honest to Pete - skip! it was really wierd
after a while i was genuinely wierded out and we had to be on our way

i think it was really getting to Jenn

on our way out of town we stopped and got some Wisconsin Squeeky Cheese and were entertained for miles and miles

Chicago: Land of Giants

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:21:00 +0000

I was not prepared for Chicago. its a world-class city filled with famous architecture here's me under Frank Gehry's monster amphitheater

and Jenn in front of the giant jelly bean

it was all i could do to keep her from trying to eat it
there was nothing to do in this town but take an architecture tour, here's our old guide, he was great, always flapping his arms with enthusiasm

chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper, and remains the skyscraper capital of the nation (except for new york, of course). heres an old building thats getting scrubbed clean of the decades of soot, most of it from the early 1900's when chicago was blackened by the soot of coal fired power plants

and inside one of the buildings is this famous mural made by the Tiffany company, it depicts the friar that settled this land before he died of influenza

after taking in all the grandeour, the only thing left to do was to eat a deep-dish chicago style pizza. we happened to be there during The Taste of Chicago festival, where all the restaurants set up a booth in the central park, so we had the whole town at our disposal. the verdict? give me Barro's pizza anyday!

Detroit: Sign of the Times

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:34:00 +0000

I'm fascinated with Detroit.

the car industry collapse left it an empty shell

its row after row of abandoned industrial buildings

and houses I heard that there are some 12,000 abandoned homes in detroit, 50,000 in foreclosure, and the average selling price in 2008 was ~$18,000. if you want to see 100 very poignant examples, check this out http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/
even the churches are abandoned
the decline of detroit is a stunning visual of the car industry collapse, I'll be keeping my eye on this town.

On the lighter side, Uncle Bill arranged for a personal tour of Kinny's garage.
he's worked for years making concept cars for the big automakers

its a huge and impressive operation with warehouses filled with old industrial age equipment like this one, and the most state of the art, computer controlled millers

this is Terry showing me all around the place, teaching me the secrets of the trade. you can tell these guys are doing what they love

well i'm ready, when do i start?

Niagra Falls: Up the creek without a Barrel

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:35:00 +0000

After Palmyra, we headed up to The Great White North, well, almost, as we were stopped by these unpassable falls. the view from the top is pretty cool, but we decided we needed to take a closer look...

the "Niagra Falls In A Barrell" tour got discontinued for some reason, so we had to take this boat instead

here's a picture of me when i was still dry and still thought this was a good idea

and here's some of the great views you get from the water

then it got pretty intense

have you ever seen a sadder sight?

and then, randomly, is tesla

Palmyra: Rest for the weary

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:22:00 +0000

after all our worldly travels, and jenns new found affinity for Amish rum, it was time for the sacred groves

which was really cool.

we saw the replica log cabin Joseph Smith lived in, they were apparently very short back then

upstairs were two bedrooms, one for the 6 boys, a smaller one for the 3 girls, i think
then they moved into this wood framed mansion (relatively), which was full of creature comforts, like a sink that drains and a "bread maker"

my favorite was the Cooper House, where they made barrels and baskets they sold to the maple syrup farmers next door that's a pretty sweet garage
and then down the street to the Hill Cumorah, jenn posing with Moroni
me doing my Moroni pose

we went to the Palmyra ward, which was about 80% visitors, we were all walking around bumping into walls, asking each other where sunday school was and no one knowing, at one point we were all following this guy down the hall, he looked like he knew where he was going, and he led us all into the bathroom. it was akward.

we were trying to decide what would place we visited would be everyone's favorite, and we decided that most people reading this blog would probably like Palmyra most, followed by the Amish, except for Van and Roxxi, who would probably like the Segways most...

Boston is Boring, but Portland is a Gem

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:18:00 +0000

this part gets kind of confusing. we realized that we were running out of time, that there's alot of road between Maine and SLC, and we only have a week or so to get back. so a few things happened, but i cant be positive of the exact order.

first off, we rolled around Boston on some segways - still the best way to travel.

and were surprised to learn that most of downtown Boston is newer than 20 years old. there's been alot of redevelopment and alot of controversy over it. apparently, city officials are giving sweetheart contracts to their friends.

the next night we drove through Cambridge to check out Harvard. it was fascinating, and it felt weird to be dumber than average. the town is old and on a Saturday night is swarming with smart college kids and you can only guess what schemes they're hatching. we weren't able to give the place the time that it deserved, but it was still interesting seeing that it existed.

we also went up to Portland, ME, the only populated city in the whole state - which is huge and has lots of famous lighthouses, like this one. you may have seen it in a painting

and any self-respecting tourist has to do two things in Maine:

watch some whales
and eat a lobster

we did both.

first we stowed away on this fine vessel
and sailed away through the mist toward the open ocean. it was spooky

here's a fine picture of jenn right before she hurled

then the fog lifted and we found ourselves surrounded by water. we all held our breath as we came to the edge of a deep sea ravine, supposedly this is where whales like to feed. we saw a few small "minky" whales, and then, after an hour or so, our captain got really excited as we saw the back of a Fin Back whale. they're the second largest whale (but we could only see its back as it came up for air). it would come up, take five deep breaths, and then dive down deep to catch some fish, usually staying down for about 5 minutes. it would surface a hundred yards off and we would speed over to it before it went down again. we followed this guy around for almost an hour. it was pretty cool (but hard to take pictures of - sorry!) due to time restraints, we were going to point the car south and start the trip back home, but we happened upon Bruce, a very kind Portland native, who volunteers giving tours of parts of his city and he offered to give us a personal driving tour! first he took us down through Cape Elizabeth and told us about the rich heritage of his city, which has been a major port town for hundreds of years, and the trade has made some residents very rich, who, in turn, built some fantastic homes.

he took us to The Lobster Shack, an unassuming local place right on the beach

and he showed me how to push the guts out of a lobster, and which parts are a 'delicacy' - i stayed away from the green gooey parts!

a big thanks to Bruce for taking the time to show us around his very charming little city - we would have came and left without having the slightest idea about what a gem of a town Portland Maine really is. Bruce, good luck during the 4th, we know you'll do fantastic!

RI: Just a little sail around Newport

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:00:00 +0000

after leaving Philly we slid past New York to the north, barely able to glimpse the skyline through the rain and fog, waving to Landon as we went. after a long drive (and some rush hour traffic) we were up in rural RI. Newport, to be exact, a popular getaway of old money. well, nothing left to do but take another boat ride. this time we sailed a yacht through one of america's richest harbours

pretty sweet

saw the mansions of Jacqueline Kennedy, the Whartons, and some other rich dead people.

i even found my next ride

then we moved into our new house

and took a little stroll around the backyard

then we got tired and had the servants bring us some tea

Totally Legit: Eating a Philly in Philly

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:45:00 +0000

we headed into Philly for a taste of history - and a Philly!

Philly is a big place, replete with history and skinny buildings

i was really digging on the old, skinny buildings

the liberty bell is there and free for the viewing, you just have to squeeze your way between dozens of chinese - as if they know something about liberty

but the main attraction in town is "Liberty Hall", the old courthouse where our founding fathers signed some old documents - here's the building from the outside

and here's our best picture of the actual room, with much of the original furniture! it was really humbling

and here's a fuzzy one of my ugly mug

and then we headed through "Society Hill" to Jim's for an authentic Philly. Society Hill was where all the rich people hung out years and years ago, its a wonderful old neighborhood and makes for a nice little stroll

and the verdict is: "authentic" phillies are really no better than any other philly

but there's no better way to keep it real in Philly

PA: The War, The Peaceful, and the chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:12:00 +0000

four score and four days later, we were finally off again. we stopped past Gettysburg for a brief visit.

this place is hallowed ground and you can really feel it as you stroll through the battlefields and graveyards. we were there on a georgous day, cool and sunny.

and of course Lincolns eternal address

after that somber visit, we decided to lighten things up a bit and headed up to Hershey, PA

we even learned how the candy's are made - by big machines! jenn was a little disappointed that they didnt mix their chocolate by waterfall.

Jenn's all about kisses in public... cant get enough. well, actually, this was enough

then we decided that we'd persue a degree in the field of chocolatology, but i flunked out after eating my homework

her diploma is real, i forged mine in chocolate

Then we headed through the tri-boroughs of Lancaster county: Intercourse, Paradise, and Fertility. there ain't no paradise like an Amish Paradise!! (that's right, another Wierd Al reference)

in an attempt to get a closer look at these curious people, we followed some signs that said "Cold Root Beer", we followed them up an authentic Amish driveway (it had horse poo on it, that's how you know)
there was a young teenager walking his horse, we asked him where the root beer was, he said around the corner, and pointed past the huge barn to a little house, so we drove around to that side and came across a cute little Amish girl with her dress and bare feet, she was probably about 8 or 9, we asked her where the root beer was and she looked at us like we were really wierd and said, hold on, i'll get it. she came back with a funny bottle and we gave her a $1.50. i tried to make conversation, she had a very thick accent, i pointed to their huge silo and asked, "is that where you keep the root beer?", this got a smile out of her and she said, "no, that's where we keep the hay!", "what's the hay for?" and then she really looked at me like i was crazy - but i really wanted to know what the hay was for.

so off we were off after that close encounter with a funny litle bottle of root beer, next thing i know jenn's acting a bit loopy - turns out that little Amish girl sold us a bottle of spirits! (actually, jenn took a sip and gagged, "this is the worste root beer ever!". we dumped it out, but kept the bottle)

see you later, you crazy Amish, we will miss your backwards ways

Rest, Virginia, sick of travelling

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:54:00 +0000

and then it was time for a vacation from our vacation. all the roaming about is hard work, and can be tedious, so we were excited to stay a few days with Nic and Ryan and do nothing but lounge about and eat their food - Thanks Nic and Ryan!! Virginia is a state packed with history, there's really too much to do here, so we didnt try. We skipped DC because we were there last year, and I didnt get to see Mount Vernon, Monticello, or Lloyds son:(

And Derek and Cheryl even came by and hung out and we had a slumber party two nights in a row! we did civilized things, we watched TV, slept in beds. Bathed. it was a nice change, if a little tedious.

we even had a sunday dinner with Nic's family who are about the nicest people you'll ever meet. we once stayed up til like 2 talking about the history of cheese and the plight of the dairymen, one of the most interesting late night conversations i've ever had. we even have a scooter bond! thanks for dinner, you guys! (the ice cream shown in the photo wasnt dinner, but desert, just for clarification)

we did take a short day trip down to Williamsburg, one of the original colonies. there's block after block of 'original' colonial town here and its a pretty neat sight.

this was the church that George Washington and his gang would attend while here on business, its an old place.

and this is the governors mansion that held some pretty important people, including Thomas Jefferson (i think, i could be wrong about that now)

the goats were my favorite part of history

but by and by i got to feelin' like Huck Finn and my britches began to chafe me. i was'a ichin to get back on my raft. a man can be free on a raft, not all cooped up indoors, where we had to follow all those rools and had to eat at the table, and that only after Ryan had mumbled some jibberish over the food when there wasnt nothin wrong with it, that i could see.

Revenge of El Guapo: Unbelievable car problems and the Unlikely fix

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:40:00 +0000

a hundred miles ago while stopped at a gas station, i heard a queer knocking noise coming from under the engine. similar to the last one, but more muted. El Guapo had warned me that if i didnt give him more money to let him completely rebuild the motor, that he would haunt me and, just maybe, get his revenge. i was scared.

but i didnt care any longer, if my car was going to act up again, then i was done messing with it. we decided to just keep driving it until it broke, then at least i'd know what was wrong with it

while we drove, we wondered what we'd do if the car broke down again. we decided that we'd sell it on the side of the road, buy some plane tickets back home, and blow the rest of our trip money on a flat screen tv and the Planet Earth series on DVD. after all, why travel when you can see it from the comfort of your couch?

we drove another hundred miles and i realized that i should probably have a mechanic take a look at it. unfortunately, it was already past 6 and everyone was closed. oh well, i was looking forward to the flat screen. we were about to get back on the freeway, but jenn needed a little girls room and there was a mcdonalds right under the overpass, so we stopped. while she was in there i decided to pop the hood one more time. this time i noticed a strange thing, this bolt sticking out through the timing bolt cover. when i touched the cover i could feel the flump flump flump. i think i had found the problem.

i pulled the cover off and lo and behold, my timing belt was hanging by a thread. it had been scraping against this bolt that was fused to the cover and was about to give way (later i would try to rotate the motor a hair by turning the cam and the belt snapped right off)

this was great news! this was something i could fix! i called up Bill to make sure this was something I could do with the few tools i brought with me. he thot so, and i went at it. jenn put on her jogging shorts and ran 1.7 miles down to Autozone and picked up a new belt for $10.99. by time she got back i had everything apart and was ready to re-assemble.

the job went really fast with the help of my homeless friends. turns out when El Guapo replaced my water pump he neglected to tighten all the bolts. this one got loose and was flung by the timing belt up through the cover, then the belt scraped the bolt for a few hundred miles til it was just hanging by a thread. another mile and he would have had his revenge. sorry, El Guapo, but not today. in about two hours we were back on the road and my dreams of a flat screen were squished. but america, here we come.

a few hours later we were in the Appalachians enjoying the nations longest scenic road, the Blue Ridge Parkway that stretches 549 miles and passes through four states. it was pretty boring, just look at these pictures

the place was infested with plants

and trees and other green stuff

believe it or not, these are actually different pictures. we wound around this for a few hours and then we got a gorgeous little camp ground and slept soundly.

Savannah: In the Garden of Good and Evil

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:57:00 +0000

ok, so neither of us has ever read the book or seen the movie, but it's the reason that Savannah has become such a tourist destination. nevermind all the history, sweet old architecture, or streets lined with trees dripping with spanish moss (not actually spanish, or moss) the historic district goes on and on, so we decided to roll in style

just to make sure there was no doubt in anyones minds that we were, in fact, tourists of these parts, we wore these stickers on the front of us that said, "give us wrong directions, we're tourists!"

when savannah was founded, there were four prohibitions, No Catholics, Whiskey, Slaves, or Lawyers.

our trolley tour guide was a hilarious black guy that gave us the literal low-down of the town, I won this token for remembering the 4 prohibitions. i think i could have turned it in somewhere for some touristy trinket thing, but i couldnt part with it.

we learned about these old buildings

hung out in the first baptist church in the country

and then became Unitarian Universalists. not sure what it means, but it didnt seem too restrictive

all in all, the garden was more good than evil, but that might just be because we took the wrong tour...

Me and REM

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:32:00 +0000

I made us go hours out of the way to visit Athens, GA, the home of REM, and a beautiful college town

any fan of the group will appreciate this picture

Nashville: Amost the Athens of the South

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:59:00 +0000

On our way up to Nashville, the heavens opened and the rains decended.

who's the moron from the desert that doesnt have windshield wipers?

we took refuge in a Catholic church and after an hour or so we were off to Nashville

The Grand Ole Opry - dumbing down the south for over 87 years.

they started by playing big band and "opera", but much to the chagrin of the elite, started calling it "opry" and the satire hasnt stopped since

the original producer, George Hays, would dress up his guest bands in overalls and flannel to accentuate their "roots". then Minnie Pearl came in with her over the top "how-DEEEEE!", she was afraid the audience would think she was making fun of them (she was), but turns out they loved it and its been a race to out-exagerate ever since

here i'm trying to figure out what would look stupidest on me

Before the Grand Ole Opry took hold Nashville was called The Athens Of The South, and they had themselves a full-scale replica of the Parthenon to prove it

it was almost majestic

That night we went to the Bluebird Cafe and got a taste of some local music, it was a crowded little shop and some great talent - the reason that Nashville is still The Music Capitol of the Country

Atlanta the Powerhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Atlanta is a huge city and a powerhouse, housing many of the country's biggest businesses. we decided to pay homage to Coca-Cola

i inquired about a lifetime supply, but they didnt know what i was taking about

we are all products of Coca-Cola advertisement

we tried 64 flavors of Coke brand sodas from around the world, and then we had to pee about 32 times. that stuff goes right through you

then we grabbed ourself one on the house and got the heck out of there

dont drink the water - The bayou tour

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:33:00 +0000

we headed off into the swamp. Dawson was excited, i was terrified. You know, alligators, crocodiles, giant mosquitoes, Swampthing. its a scarey place

he was really enjoying himself!

look at me, petrified!

the funny thing you wouldnt have guessed about alligators - they love marshmallows. the guide said they used to feed them chicken, but it made them agressive and there were "incidents"

turned out to be a pretty fun trip, and nothing to be afraid of out there. our tour guide had an accent thicker than the summer air and was hard to understand

New Orleans: the French District and the 9th Ward

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:34:00 +0000

I miss New Orleans, the French District has that aged romance that clings to you. its block after block of story-lined streets and the (Spanish) architecture has shadows and voices. i loved it the moment i set foot there and was anxious to explore every narrow alley, sit on every balcony, and discover every story of every soul that had ever lived there.

so we took the Ghost Tour

and heard about the ghost bell you can hear ringing early every Good Friday. in the 1700's the block west of the church burned down, the priest that accidently started it ran down to the church to ring the bells to warn the town, but the bells had been dutifully disassembled so as to not accidently ring on Good Friday (a very important rule, evidently), and the town burned

and about the dirge that can be heard leading to this graveyard during 'inclimate weather'. in the early 1800's the Spaniards asserted their control of New Orleans by killing a dozen of the leading Frenchmen, adding insult they left the corpses unburied, and denied final rights. after a few days a hurricane blew through, the Spaniards never saw such tumult and assuming it was the wrath of God, they let the dead be taken to the cemetary for a proper Christian burial, the pall bearer's singing dirges as they carried their dead

the next day we went back for more,

braving the thick sweltering southern summer for some bagnettes from Cafe Du Monde, fried dough dropped into a bag of powdered sugar. they were ok.

we also went next door to the 9th ward to see how she was recovering from Katrina. in the aftermath you could buy a house here for $10,000. it was looking pretty good, and a surprising amount of white people. turns out, the middle class swooped in and bought and repaired a lot of these homes, raising the value and median income level of the place.

San Antonio and The Riverwalk

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:33:00 +0000

there's a neat little place in the heart of downtown San Antonio where a below ground river was cut between the skyscrapers, after thousands of years, i imagine

georgeous cobble stone pathes wind their way alongside the river, lined with fancy restaurants all eager for your money

its a very old city and no one could remember when the river first flowed downtown

it was a nice place to spend the morning,

before continuing on to LA, with all its swampy goodness

The Alamo: Where we finally get out from under the oppressive rule of Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Actually, does everyone know we lost the battle at the Alamo? to Mexico? but then we rallied and beat them back, a fact even the mexican guide was proud of. i'm totally confused.

a statue of some of the guys that died at the Alamo, including, the Bowie knife, and Jimmy Buffet.

Jenn defending the alamo

Jenny remembering the alamo

a funny flag with some historical significance that alludes me now.

(luckily, no one cares about history)

in Texas they fly the Texas flag above the US flag, which prompted me to get a bumper sticker that read: "Texas, when will you succeed?"

Look at me, I'm white and nerdy!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:30:00 +0000

to truly appreciate how cool we were today, you've gotta've seen Wierd Al's White and Nerdy video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Zc9NyYH-k

somewhere about a minute 10 seconds you'll see us...

THAT'S RIGHT, SEGWAY TOURS, BABY!

they see me roll on, my segway, i know in their heart they think i'm white and nerdy

i wanna roll with, the gansters, but its apparent i'm too white and nerdy

after we were done being awesome, we heard that the gansters were hanging out at the Texas Pie Company down the road in Kyle, so we thought we'd join them for alittle strawberry rubarb pie

but they werent there, so we ate without them. we also ordered a buttermilk pie, they were as good as The Splendid Table promised.

believe it or not, about an hour later she had finished the whole piece!

Traveling is more fun when you're moving

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:44:00 +0000

and Austin is way hipper than you.

I've been waiting to size myself up against America's hippest and this is where it happens. turns out i'm pretty lame. i couldn't understand a word they were saying.

We hit central Texas during an early monsoon season and its unusually hot and sweltery. so first things first is strip down to our skinnies and bathe in the natural waters of Barton Springs, where the water flows up clear and cold from the depths of the earth. its the only relief in town.

you can pay $3 and swim on the other side of that dam, but why would you when you can swim on this side illegally for free? we tried to do the responsible thing and let people know that there was "No Swimming Allowed" here, but nobody appreciated that, so we decided, when in Rome, swim where the cool kids swim. but we did contibute something to the park when we got this kayak

i hear some people here kayak to work. that's so hip.

things got a little scary when jenn fell out and got her head stuck in the mud. turns out she enjoyed it.

this was cool, Congress bridge is home to the largest "urban" bat colony on earth, not only do they listen to rap, but they also come out every night at dusk to feast on insects and people. i thot we should keep back a safe distance, but jenn insisted on a front row seat

they flowed out like a river, and kept on coming. they'll come back in the morning 30,000 pounds heavier, their bellies full of mosquitos

check out this youtube video, its intense

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL7RKPhPxAE

"Look at me, I'm on a CAR!!"

noreply@blogger.com (Dawson and Jenny Alverson) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:04:00 +0000

We had to check out of our hotel at noon and we had no idea when our car would be done. so we did what any sensible adult would do - killed time at Peter Piper Pizza! it was pretty fun for the first three hours.

Meanwhile, a mile away....

"Olle, creo que nunca va a servir", El Guapo.

But then a miracle happened, at 7pm Central Time, I gave El Guapo a plethora of money and he gave me my car back!

then we did our own version of that one Sandberg/Timberlake song,

"Look at me, I'm on a CAR!

Never thought I would be on a car!"

If you dont know the song, you're not missing much - just enjoy the pictures:)

then we got the Heck out of El Paso (that's right, a capital "H"), and late that night we were just outside of Austin, the new Seattle, and our little car was purring like a kitten