Miles

I can't believe it's been over 2 months since we posted anything. What's happened? With more free time than ever you'd think there'd be more posts. In any case, here is the final map for FallTour '05.

Click anywhere in the sentence above for a larger view of the map.

Reserve Me a Bali Bed Quick

Back in New York, it was back to work. This three-day stint was for a new all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, called Paradisus Palma Real. Four butlers canvassed Manhattan performing random acts of kindness: holding doors, hailing cabs, handing out hot cocoa or coffee, cigars, chocolates, etc. It would have been lots of fun if it weren't for the EXTREME cold. These were the coldest three days yet this season. OUCH. We did get some air time on the Early Show and pre-game for an NBA game on ESPN.

Newport Beach Renewal

We arrived in LA on Friday December 9th. After dropping of the RV in its new temporary home, an airplane hangar at a small airport in San Fernando, we got in touch with John and Judi Zeig, very old friends who live in the area (They themselves aren't very old, I've just known them for a long time.) We drove down to visit and had a long-needed, relaxing evening of good fun and good company. Next time poker will have to be for dimes and not pennies. No photos were taken, but the memories are more than enough. We'll see if we can get together again when we're back out for the Rose Bowl. ---------Tamara

La Felinta

Even I am tired of looking at that cornuopia. Thanksgiving is long over, but it's been a whirlwind since then. This will be a quick entry. The LaQuinta in San Bernadino was home to about a half a dozen furry felines. They looked very well fed, which I guess means that if nothing else, the hotel didn't have any mice.

Our stop in San Bernadino was for repairs due to a break-in that happened in Katy, TX. We lost 2 TVs, a generator, and our sense of safety. The thieves broke a back window of the RV, too, but it doesn't look like they actually got inside. As soon as we got official word, we hightailed it on out of Texas as quickly as possible. We made it across the border into New Mexico that same day....620 miles later.

Don't Mess With It

Our last couple of events were in Texas. The pic above shows the throngs of people at the U Texas vs. Texas A&M game in College Station. The Big 12 Championship was the last official event for the fall college football season. Yipee!!! Our event was the day before the Big Game, at the Dr. Pepper fan fest in downtown Houston.



The Fairfield by Marriott and the Courtyard next door (much nicer at almost the same price) were VERY helpful in receiving large packages for us and in allowing us to park right in front since the lot was so tight. Thanks JW and friends. Here's a pic of staff with the Chik Fil A cow at the event.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The thanksgiving-traditions.com website says “The key to a Thanksgiving menu is to choose foods that will represent the idea of giving thanks for a good year, a harvesting of good fortune, and the sharing of the bounty of your efforts with friends and family. In today's world, the only limit on preparing a Thanksgiving Dinner is an individual's imagination and creativity.” I love the concept. Here in College Station, TX, we haven’t yet decided what’s on our menu for today, but we’ve got plenty to be thankful for. Hope everyone has a relaxing day with family and friends wherever you find yourself this year.

Here’s a fun Thanksgiving quiz for after dinner:

http://www.morefocused.com/surveys/thanksgiving/quiz/index.php?andiiId=71.113.232.83-1132860134¤tPage=http://www.thanksgiving-traditions.com/&tile=cta-flyingTurkey-quiz_320.swf

Take me home, country road...

Here is our route so far…just over 13,000 miles and counting. The red flag shows where we are now; the yellow flags are other stops. The little moons are supposed to be where we have spent the night, but they’re not completely accurate. We’ve been through 29 states in the past two and a half months, but the mid-west and north-west are looking pretty bare. I’m sure that will change as we head out to California in the next few weeks! We’ll do a final map at the end of the tour.

Welcome to Michigan

I guess winter is finally here. After having lucked out for the last ten weeks with the majority of work days being close to 80 degrees or more we've gotten knocked back into reality. Mid November in Michigan is cold damn it!! We arrived in East Lansing just in time, as it started to snow around 3 pm. Wish us luck for this Saturday's festivities. Maybe there will be a pic of a snowman on Sunday.

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Just after the main coarse was served at the Edinburgh, IN Crackerbarrel, we got a visit from the manager. He politely asked us if we would mind joining the rest of the patrons in the back of the "house". What he meant was the kitchen as there were tornados sighted in the vicinity. We gladly obliged and hung out in the back while the storm blew over and resumed our meal after about 15 minutes. Above is a photo of the storm survivors thanks to Crackerbarrel.

Introducing Mandy

On our trip from Jacksonville to Blacksburg we had a pitstop in Atlanta. This is a pic of the brains of Mobile Media's operation- Mandy Loeber's desk. Wonderfully decorated I might add.

"Jack"-o-lantern

In celebration of the Last harvest and the end of the Celtic year we have carved our own pumpkin and named him Jack. Maybe it will help keep away malevolent spirits.

Traditionally the Celts carved turnips or gourds. When the early Irish settlers came to the western world they discovered the pumpkin, which is actually indigenous to the western hemisphere, to be much easier to carve.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

The search was on for the perfect pumpkin. Unlike in
the cartoon, we didn't have to spend all night in the pumpkin patch. As a matter of fact, the evening was spent eating a delicious Japanese dinner, and later winning lots of prizes at Dave & Busters. Stay tuned for a post-carving update after the weekend.

http://petcaretips.net/charlie_brown_great_pumpkin.html

A Day at the Beach

Donny enjoys looking for shells on this Jacksonville beach. It was a very quiet afternoon, although the weather was quite nice. I plan to make a bracelet from our findings. 

Wild Caving

Inner Space Caverns Georgetown, TX just north of Austin. Not your ordinary cave tour. Tony and Wendy were our guides in this physically challenging yet amazing experience. The shirts are dirty for a reason. We never expected to squeeze thru some of the holes and crevices we encountered in the three hours we were underground. Most of the time was spent on hands and knee or elbows and knee over dirt, mud or rock. In addition to the standard formations of stalagtites, stalagmites, draperies, cave bacon and soda straws we saw coral, rimstone pools and helictites. This area used to be a sea bed thus the coral. Helictites are similar to stalagtites and stalagmites but they seem to defy gravity and grow horizontal to the ground. There were even bones of prehistoric creatures such as mammoth and sabertooth tigers.

Are they sure this is really a lake??

Lake Michigan from St Joseph, MI. Since there were no hotel rooms in South Bend, IN for our Notre Dame event, we stayed over the border in Michigan. Good thing, since this a great jumping off point for exploring the quaint town of St Joseph. After viewing the "lake" we pondered why there wasn't a new term coined just for a body of water like this. We ate dinner at restaurant called Spinnaker's. Tamara had perch from Lake Superior, while Donny had a filet mignon. Not sure if it was a white or yellow perch, and it sure is hard to find info on safe/responsible freshwater fish consumption. Ocean fish are much easier to research . . .

Where's Tam?

These lovely items are called lanyards. By the time this tour is over we will have distributed over 30K of them. Here is just a taste of what we do on our "off time." Attaching the card to the lanyard itself is time consuming and mind numbing activity. Here is roughly 600 of the 3500 we will be using this weekend. Can't wait for next weeks shipment.

ps. Thanks chicas, you know who you are.

Driving 'Til the Cows Come Home...and it doesn't look like they're heading anywhere fast... 

Fenced Fall Foliage in Pennsylvania 

O-Bye-O

The Penn State vs. OSU game was an upset. Penn won at home, and we enjoyed a rainy, cold day. The hearty soul in the pic above didn't seem to mind the weather though. Pennsylvania was otherwise very pretty. The leaves have started to change color, and much of our drive was on smaller highways (like 422) that run through colorful hills and valleys dotted with old farmhouses and barns. Favorite town name: Nanty Glo, also spelled Nant-Y-Glo.