4 States Later....

Greetings and Salutations from Lawrence, Kansas..
Yesterday was definitely haulin A-S day....We left Lisa and Ohio at 6:30 am and took off into the wild....
Finding good coffee was a bust for most of the day (big bummer)....
The minute we pulled into St. Louis, life was good...
St. Louis is beautiful...the architecture is fantastic, the city itself is full of life.... and that monument as you are coming into town is awesome for real....
Yeah, Whole Foods St. Louis we love you!!!!! (Thank you Ed and Shannon)...It is like coming home....We stopped , shopped, had INSANELY yummy salads and treats..The weather has been most kind to us..The sunsets are breathtaking and the open land is pretty unbelieveable...Big shout out to Blue Springs Pie Shop (home of the mile high pies)...Wait until you see these...They only take checks and cash, blue checkered tablecloths, no joke on the comfort food tip...Joey got a slice of the mammoth berry pie hooked it up a la mode...I got a slice of the lemon meringue and it was on.....It was something out of the Twilight Zone...
13.5 hours of driving total and that Motel 6, 10 minutes outside of Kansas City never looked soooooooooooo good....Park that trailer and can you say, bed and cable...

Tunes for the day: Gwen Stefani, David Bowie, Journey-Evolution (Big Personal Fave For Us Both), Jeff Buckley, some serious world music drums (that was good stuff) and a little silence just to take in the view....

Rise and shine...
We have stopped off for breakfast at Wheatfields Bakery Cafe www.wheatfieldsbakery.com/
(Rebecca you hooked us up) (whole grain waffles, fresh baked bread, crazy good coffee and PEACE of mind....By the way it is GAME DAY all over the place...We got here just in time for the Kansas JayHawks and Nebraska Huskers game...kickoff in 20 minutes....We are bouncing pretty soon and heading to Boulder, Colorado where it is also game day ( Boulder and Missouri at 5:30CMT)....College ball now we're talking...
Love to all...
Samara and Joey

Good Food...Good Coffee

So...We have refilled and replenished....We hit downtown Cincinnati and happened upon Kaldi's Coffee House and Bookstore (thank you Molly) www.Kaldisonmain.com...Local roasted coffee,pub and bookstore (cruise the bookshelves for $1-2 classics, bestsellers and random goodies... ...Joey had a mean cup of the house blend,killer soy latte for me and Lisa took the local brewery plunge with the Mt. Carmel Stout on tap...www.mtcarmelbrewingcompany.com....
Yummy Grub in Clifton near University of Cincinnati....We found some seriously good Mediterranean Food at 314 Ludlow Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio....We 3 threw down on lamb gyro and hummus...Now we're talking....Happy Bellies all the way!!!!
We are currently sitting in Sitwell's Coffeehouse and gallery www.sitwells.net, writing to our peeps , drinking hot chocolate (it is getting a little chilly) and Lisa just got this insane slice of pumpkin cake, WHAT!!!!! (Picture of Joey and Lisa at Sitwell's) (amazing wall art in Kaldi's)
If you are asking...Most of you know I loathe having my picture taken...Joey has been trying her hardest to get a snapshot... I have been dodging and blocking...I'll get over it...maybe...

15 Hours on the road later.....

Hey All,

Well we have officially left New York (weep weep sob sob)....
At 6am on the dot we left Midtown Manhattan and headed South....
We pulled onto the West Side Hwy and the first thing we heard on the news was that San Francisco and beyond had experienced a 5.6 on the Richter...Good times...It is what we native Californians know best....
The drive has been amazing the scenery is spectacular.... and the music...hmmmm lets just say for the first 8 1/2 hours we got an earful of am/fm local...just cause you're curious...The Pointer Sister's, Lionel Richie, John Denver and various ones too lame to mention....It was the town of Middlesex, PA that hooked us up with some Zeppelin and at 10:08am " For Those About To Rock" AC/DC... that was good stuff...
Yes...we stopped at WalMart got an adaptor for the car and now cd's galore... music at our disposal...
Joey cat napped off and on for most of the drive....The Road Warrior that I am have been at the wheel of our chariot with trailer hitch in tow....Most of you know I have been living in New York city for the last year and a half and it was the first time in 20 years that I did not have a car....So, this has been AWESOME!!!! I am definitely making up for lost time in the driver's seat....Go Speed Racer!!!!! My OCD did kick in more than twice (Amalaah do not laugh)...How many times will I look in the rear view mirror to see if the trailer has fallen off and all of our stuff is spread out over I-70...Boy o' Boy...I have got to work on that...
By the way...What did we do before cell phones and long distance drives???????? Talk about the urge to be in touch no matter what.....
Uphill driving will be our biggest challenge yet... when we hit the Rockies in a couple of days....( Honda Civic with a Uhaul trailer..can you say 20 miles an hour...Nice!!)
Our first pit stop is with my friend Lisa outside of Dayton, Ohio....She just bought an adorable house and has been the rockin' hostess....We arrived around 9:15pm, last night...
You know that moment when you are driving up to your destination, you are
looking at every house to see the address, you're on the phone with the person and they finally step out on to their porch ( PORCH???) and you are so excited you continue to talk on the the phone even though you are standing right in front of them....It was a good laugh...Where's the vino and popcorn, I say...
Lisa is my dear friend from California who moved back to Ohio a year and a half ago....She is originally from Cincinnati....It is like seeing a sister....
Oh yeah, the tunes for this first leg were:
Incubus, Cat Power, Led Zeppelin, Zero 7, Michael Jackson, (Off The Wall...You know it, we rocked that one big time) and Stevie Wonder....We have been some finger snapping, out loud singing fools..
While Joey slept I took advantage of local radio...I do love my classic rock and yes my country music...It is a road trip after all...
The food has not been that exciting (that will change...We snacked on 365 Cilantro Lime chips, rice cakes, Starbucks at the Pennsylvania Turnpike (we were so desperate..i broke down and got us a cinnabon churro...tummy rubbin' good)
I seriously need a salad.. Yes we are bound for one of our stores in Ohio for some responsible rations and just to see what the other stores look like, we like to see how the folks do it... anyhoo....We are hanging for one more day to rest up and then we hit the road to Kansas....Ride em' Cowgirl(s)....
Tim and Mike, big thanks for the perfectly timed call and the side splitting laughter as I am driving in Ohio...OKAY!!!!!
Big Hugs and Mad Love to ALL of our friends and loved ones for your support, text messages and check in's.....Pictures will follow......
All Of Our Love,
Samara and Joey.....