Lesson of Vegas: heels are NEVER a good idea (no matter how cute and cheap the heels are)

on a t-shirts and many other things - “what happens in vegas, stays on facebook” 

day 2 was going from Big Timber*, Montana to Custer, South Dakota (or as i like to call it cluster, south dakota) where we camped in Custer, and the next day we went to see mount Rushmore. Camping was a good experience, camping was a good experience, as I figured out if there is a good sleeping bag, it doesn’t really matter about the surroundings of the wilderness. On the way to Custer we experienced some car trouble, as when we stopped to grab food at a grocery store, the car wouldn’t start. The first car that I tried to wave down to help us just didn’t get it that we needed help and just drove off, but Jess found these absolutely amazing french-canadians that totally helped to jump the battery/car (is that the right term?) and  then we were off to Custer (Cluster). The thing about the french-canadians is that in school we have always been taught that the french-canadians HATE the rest of Canada as they want to be seperDriving through Montana = a crap load of bugs on the windshield, it was an amount that I have never seen in my entire life. Other things to note is that free wifi is kick ass (even if it’s a bit slow…ahem mcdonalds wifi). 

*Big Timber is not so big - population of big timber approximately 3000

Today as we were driving, I decided to finally give in and stop to purchase a head light for my car. Little side note, my headlight has been burnt out the entire trip. We pulled over to an Autozone store, purchased the headlight and walked out to the car to replace it. As soon as I lifted the hood I knew that something was not right. Parts of my engine looked charred and burned. There was black ash floating around. I was so confused. WE hadn’t had any problems with the car besides the cruise control breaking. Then I sawa alittle white page tucked inbetween some engine parts, and another and another. And I had a flashback to South Dakota. When we were at a camp ground in South Dakota I decided I was going to change my headlight. I lifted the hood, and tried to pull out the old light, but struggled with it so I grabbed th owners manual to take a look. I put the manual on the engine, looked at the instructions and pulled my light out. I went to go grab my spare light only to find out that it was actually a tail light. Great, no headlight. I shut the hood, we got on the road, and I vowed to buy a new headlight soon. Now about a week later, I stared at my charred engine and realized I never took the book out. I got that churning sick feeling in my stomach and thought to myself, “I am such an Idiot”. We took our car to a mechanic about a mile down the road, who of course chuckled at us. He then proceeded to tell us that we would probably have to replace a few parts and we would probably have to get them from a junkyard which closes at 5pm. I looked at my phone and it was 4:58. Too late. It was looking like we were stuck in the middle of nowhere for the night once again. In a last ditch effort, he decided to clal the mechanic next door. He told us he was going to run over there and check out some parts and theat we could wait in the lobby. Twenty minutes later he walked into the lobby, and told us he found the parts and had already replaced them. My jaw dropped. At that very moment, I wanted to tackle him with a HUGE hug. I told him he was my favorite person in the world at that moment. Wee went out and took a look, and everything looked new again. After everything was complete, I asked what we owed him and he said “nothing”. My jaw dropped again. Good old southern hospitality. This does not happen where I come from. We drove away in shock. About ten seconds into the drive we decided we had to do something for the man who helped us out so we made a left hand turn into the Food Lion, bought us a 24 pack of beer and took it back to him. He had a big grin on his face and thanked us repeatedly when he saw the case. I am so thankful to this man for helping us out. Oh, and he said we are lucky our car didn’t start on fire and blow up on us on the road. Double thanks.

Last night Raman and I were so excited to camp again.  We pulled into Carolina Beach State Park around 8pm, set up our tent right before dark and got in.  It was so hot that we threw our sleeping  ags to the side and slept straight on our sleeping pads.  We layed there for a long time both complaining that we couldn’t fall asleep.  We had left our rain fly off because it was so hot we wanted to allow any breeze possible to blow through the tent.  Several hours of insomna later, I started to hear the trickle of rain on our tent.  I ignored it for a few minutes, btut then I started feeling rain drops on my head.  We both decided at the same time to run out and grab the rain fly.  We got it up super fast and joked that it was so easy we should have just put it up in the first place.  We got back in the tent feeling self satisfied and safe not knowing that a few minutes later, things weould start to change.  The rain suddenly got harder and harder.  Being from the Northwest, rain doesn’t intimidate me.  I thought it would weaken soon and pass through.  Little did I know, North Carolina storms have a mind of their own.  It increasingly got stronger and stronger until literally it was one of the strongest rains I have ever heard.  I still ignored it, thinking it would pass and our tent could resist it for a short while.  Then the thunder and lightning started to get louder and louder, closer and closer.  The thunder felt like it was shaking our tent with its thunderous growl and the lightning felt close enough to kill.  After trying to ignore this for about an hour, we We devised a plan. We only wanted to run to the car once. We grabbed everything we didn’t want to leave behind in the tent and wrapped it around our bodies. Then we jumped out of the tent and sprinted to the car. The car is only 20 feet away, but we were soaking as if we had jumped in a lake by the time we got there. When we got in the car, I really started to realize how strong the storm was and panicked a bit. I really love storms and I love watchig them, but from the safety of my house. The thunder and lightning were going simultaneously which I know means the lightning is lcose and I started to worry. I was seriously scared we were going to get struck by lightning. Not knowing what to do, I did what any grown girl would do and called my mom. And then my aunt. And I was reassured we would PROBABLY not get hit by lightning. Apparently being in a car is safe because the rubber of your tires can’t conduct electricity if lightning strikes the ground nearby. Still, if it strikes your car you might be screwed. Finally feeling calm enough to fall asleep, I got as cozy as possible in the drivers side of the car and got a few hours of sleep. I was so thankful to wake up in the morning with cloudy skies but no rain.

Warning.  I am the worst blogger ever.  This blog is about to be a hot mess.  I have contemplated giving this up because I am no good at remembering to do it, but I have decided to continue, so raman and I have something to look back on and laugh.  I guess not remembering/having the time to blog means the trip is going pretty well.  Today we are in Pensacola, Florida and saw dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico!  Those of you that know me well are not suprised knowing that I am kind of a nature freak.  There are 4 animals I wanted to see on this trip- dolphins, sea turtles, manatees, and alligators.  I saw sea turtle nests too but don’t know if that counts.  Sometimes Raman and I try to recount what happened the day before and where we were and often we have a hard time piecing it all together.  Where were we yesterday?  What day is it today?  Where did we sleep?  What did we do?  I find this blur of life fabulous and rare. 

-Jess

after the hell-ish things that have happened in the last couple of days or so, the one thing that I am thankful for is the good old southern hospitality. 

What did Della-ware?  She wore a New Jersey.  What did Ida-hoe?  She hoed a Mary-land.  My Canadian grandma of all people used to tell me this little idiom to remember the names of the states.  And guess where we are right now? Maryland!  About 2 hours from DC and making good time today.  Today we finally drove out of endless corn land and into the land of magical tolls.  I definitely liked the land of endless corn much better.  I appreciate them for growing unfathomable amounts of corn so I can nom nom on it all summer.  It is about to be 12 states in 5 days: Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland and soon Virginia!  I can’t wait to get to DC and take a break from driving for a few days!