this post will conform to no category!

road trip: days eight & nine (sand dunes and AVPR)

it’s important to begin the new year on a positive food note, and mona did not disappoint. we were greeted at breakfast by lovely little fruit cups!

after breakfast, we bid adieu to mona, the arcon inn and building 98. but not before mona told us several more stories, including one about how she bought building 98 from FDR’s grandson, who was penniless at the time, due to the fact that his wife (“he married below his class, if you know what i mean”) stole all of his money.

BYE MONA! til next time, stay cray.

(note her chef’s outfit, as i mentioned yesterday)

we set off towards midland, since we had to take robin and ellen to the airport. the plan was to drop them off at the airport, then drop off matt’s car at his grandmother’s (since it is actually her car) and then head back to austin, with a night stay somewhere in between (according to the whims of tom tom).

we stopped at fort davis, the nearest town north of marfa, for some pizza. and some tussling.

and more tussling. aww, brother and sister love each other!!!!

btw that pizza place is for sale, if you’re looking to invest in fort davis property. hey, their colors don’t run!!

tom tom took us on an extremely scenic route, which almost (almost) earned my forgiveness for the ski santa fe debacle.

here’s a little movie i took of the drive, just to give you a feel for it:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9e_VjA2k9w 325 260]

since we had time to kill, we decided to stop by the state park in monahans, which features GIANT SAND DUNES.

i had no idea this place existed, but matt and robin used to go there as kids. come, and discover the mysteries of monahans with my little mouse backpacker friend!

seriously, though, these “sandhills” are amazing and incredibly surreal, especially when you consider that they’re just randomly in the middle of west texas!

it was as if i had cut through the air with a subtle knife (see: philip pullman) and walked through the rip into an endless desert. you could totally film, like, “lawrence of arabia” here and save a TON of money on airfare.

just to give you a feel for the place, here’s a movie of matt running… and attacking ellen. for no good reason.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VyWfpO6LkA 325 260]

i made everyone take another rock band picture, cos i really do have this dream that if i take enough “album” photos, we will suddenly become a real band and dominate the charts and make tons of $$ and then do something scandalous and end up on lots of pills and i will SO totally be the female slash.

and then i made everyone run down towards me while i filmed them, cos IT WAS FUN!!!!!! plus it could be part of our future music video, or the opening sequence of our TV show, like “the monkees” but more emmy award-winning.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgJg8nF7Z4I 325 260]

matt left to take the girls to the airport, but henri and i stayed behind cos we wanted to keep playing in the sand. it felt like we were in a giant sand box, minus the dog poo.

henri was all about getting an “action jump” shot, which we finally achieved after he jumped about five times and gathered a pound of sand in his shoes.

it was worth it, yeah?

close to midland, our interest was piqued by signs for the “odessa meteor crater.”

according to that sign, there was an “explosive impact,” but, uhhhh, the “crater” kinda just looks like some land. with weeds and rocks. here’s henri, “exiting” the “crater.”

it’s obvious that odessa is bummed they don’t have much to show for this “explosive” piece of history. they didn’t even find a meteor in the crater! sheesh!!

i like how they have a sign for the shaft… that led to… nothing.

finally, we arrived in matt’s grandma’s neighborhood in midland, which also features… SURPRISE! george w. bush’s childhood home!!!!

thank you, goddess serendipity, for leading us to this fateful place. how FORTUNATE that we were able to see, with our own eyes, the place where our fearless leader learned how not to be smart and how not to speak and how not to lead our country.

awesome.

we met matt’s grandmother (who was v. sweet but apparently cusses when i’m not around) and then took off towards san angelo, which is kind of farther away than you think (although we did have “this american life” podcasts to keep us company). especially when you’re hungry. for italian food. and then you call all of the local places, but no one is answering, cos it’s new year’s day.  and you REALLY WANT italian food, but everything is closed… except…

THE OLIVE GARDEN!

yes, it’s true, we broke our “no chain food” rule at the olive garden, on our v. last night of the trip. but you know what? i’m ok with that, cos eating at the olive garden (“fine dining”) is truly a cultural experience in san angelo.

esp. if you’re with matt, who decided to draw a mustache on his face when he was bored in the backseat.

over dinner, the boys discussed their mutual love for “alien vs. predator,” and OH how i wish i had recorded their conversation. in all seriousness, they told me the plot of the first film, and all about the predator and alien cultures, and just how AWESOME the movies are, and how they hate/don’t hate/hunt humans, and how i really wouldn’t be scared if we went to see “alien vs. predator: requiem” that v. night.

and so, we did.

i spent the last night of the NYE road trip watching AVPR, and it was aaaawesome. in a really bad way, obvs. to quote henri: “this may be the worst movie i’ve ever seen that was a theatrical release.”

i might have matt and henri debate some of the finer qualities of AVP in a future post on this blog, fyi.

we checked into a room at the comfort inn (same chain we stayed in our first night! holla symmetry!) and all got online with our laptops. cos we are the wired (or wireless?) generation.

the next morning, i came out of the shower only to discover that henri and matt had decided to form an olympic gymnastics team.

i can’t leave them alone for five minutes, you know?

since we didn’t want the road trip to end, we decided to spend our last few hours in fredericksburg, which is exactly what meredith and i did at the end of our NYE ‘05 road trip. beer and german food tends to melt the pain away, you know?

plus, it was a good reminder that, even though the road trip is gone, we have plenty more adventures to look forward to in 2008.

and so, dear readers, we have come to the last of my road trip entries. it’s hard to believe, especially cos now i’ll have to think of actual new topics to write about each day. rough!

anyway, i hope you’ve enjoyed reading my stories as much as i’ve enjoyed writing them. it’s been lovely to re-live all of the moments, from snowboarding (even the cold parts, cos i’m warm now! so it’s ok!) to roswell to cline’s corner to marfa to mona to building 98… it really was everything a road trip should be.

ROAD TRIP 2008 I LOVE YOU!! and i shall cherish you forever.

LINKS 

OMGGG!!! you guys!!!! dolly parton is playing at sxsw!!!! THIS IS MY DREAM!! thanks, josh, for updating me on this EXTREMELY THRILLING news.

apparently, the last harry potter book is gonna be split into two movies. i think this is a good thing, especially cos it just means i can enjoy “new” harry potter stuff for at least one more year.

hey new yorkers. gossip girl here! looks like dan and serena’s relationship isn’t just an “on screen” thing. while i’m all about the hotness, beware! we all know what happened to ben and felicity…

© 2008 Poshdeluxe.