United States of America – Page 5 – Jason likes to travel

Moses Lake – Sep 2017

Those of you that have been following my Washington series will know that last time out on the blog I rounded off my time in the city of Spokane. After one night solo in Spokane it was time for me to move on and visit another new place: Moses Lake!

“Oh my god, at last!”

Alright readers, calm down! I suppose one of the downsides to not blogging “in the moment” and doing so two years after the trip (oops), particularly in a series such as this, is some of my ‘audience’ tend to know what the story is building towards. Last week I had one binge-reader (hi mum) unhappy with the one-post-a-week schedule as she was keen to read the next chapter because, of course, awaiting me in Moses Lake was none other than Haleigh!

“Who?”

Oh come on! For those unfamiliar with the story (“get with the times!”) you can catch up here but long story short, Haleigh’s my girlfriend and this particular portion of the trip was the first time we’d ever really spent any time together. We’d briefly met on Sunday but the bulk of that was spent on a car journey, alongside our friends Maddie and Cassie. We’d been apart since then so consequently I was excited to be leaving Spokane on Wednesday but also a bit nervous about how things were going to go.

I don’t know if spoiler is the right word given it’s obvious how things panned out, particularly given I even wrote this piece announcing I’d be living in Moses Lake for 3 months in 2020 but still; here’s how that nerve-wrecking first encounter went and similarly what I did on my first visit to Moses Lake.

I say first visit, I had actually passed through it on my journey from Ellensburg to Spokane. Perhaps fortunately so because it left me somewhat prepared for the reality that Moses Lake’s Greyhound “bus station” is in the middle of nowhere.

Seriously, it might not surprise the American readers as much but for my fellow Europeans used to a relatively good standard of public transport I suppose I’d liken it to being dropped off at a service station. “You want a bus to London? Cool, our London bus stop is somewhere on the A1 – enjoy!”

Essentially if you’re getting a Greyhound bus to Moses Lake, you’re going to want a car when you arrive.

“A car? After getting off a bus? If you had access to a car would you not just drive there yourself?”

Thank you friends! The logic was lost on me too. Being completely realistic you need to either have someone picking you up or you’re going to want to order a taxi as soon as you arrive. The downtown area of this, fairly small town, is around 3 miles away from the bus stop, which is ultimately just a petrol station car park.

Haleigh was working when I arrived so I personally had two options. My first was actually to walk rather than take a taxi. It was a nice day, I had time to kill and it was “only” 3 miles. Why pay for a taxi?

Alternatively I could just wait it out, I think I got in to Moses Lake around 2 and Haleigh would be home around 4 and be able to pick me up on the way. The one perk to the ludicrous location / service type feel is that it’s at least located next to plenty of restaurants / fast food places. It’s a pretty popular spot for truckers who want somewhere convenient to stop along the i90 and on this occasion was convenient for me to grab a late lunch. I decided I’d eat at Denny’s.

Unfortunately it was actually pretty mediocre, I think this was my first Denny’s experience since childhood trips to Florida and I’ve clearly romanticised them a bit too much. I’m convinced they were brilliant when I was younger, perhaps this was an off day, but it spoilt this magical opinion I held of Denny’s from my youth.

I think I finished up eating just before three which left me in that limbo position where it felt a bit too long to just hang out in Denny’s but barely long enough to justify walking in to Moses Lake. Whether I waited or walked I was probably still going to get in to town around the same time. In the end I took the less awkward option, not wanting to loiter in Denny’s I decided to walk.

The last hurdle to overcome with this ridiculous location was that a good chunk of the route isn’t actually pedestrianised. Where’s your “sidewalk” America? It’s bad enough your only car-free option from the bus stop is to walk three miles but you then have nowhere to actually walk. I ended up having to walk along gravel on the side of the highway whilst dragging my suitcase along behind me.

“Why’s that guy dragging a suitcase along the A1?” – it was a tad ridiculous.

On the plus side, it is a pretty straight walk at least. Although I suppose the A1 is too for the most part and I’m not proposing walking that any time soon. Anyway, eventually I reached a “sidewalk” and it’s a pretty smooth walk from there – a lot of it downhill infact.

About a mile from town I got a message from Haleigh and realised I’d actually walked too far, obviously after the point the walk had started heading downhill which meant I had to turn back and walk uphill. I’d almost reached Haleigh’s apartment when she pulled over and picked me up which saved me a few hundred yards.

After dropping my things off at her place we headed out so I could get my first proper glimpse of Moses Lake. Haleigh had only recently (Aug) moved here infact so it was a good chance for us both to have a bit of a look around the downtown area, I think Haleigh had driven through plenty of times but never really parked up and looked around.

The downtown area was small but a little cute too, it definitely had that small town feel to it which I haven’t really experienced much of when visiting the US. We popped our head in a few shops before closing, mostly independent little businesses rather than big chains. One of which had a cool little area where you could actually pay to do artwork/pottery and similar stuff which Haleigh’s been back to since a few times. There was also a couple of cool murals and statues throughout the downtown area which I was fond of.

MosesLake6

Having appeased our curiosity we made our way over to dinner and visited Moses Lake favourite ‘Rock Top. It has become a regular place for us to eat out but this was essentially our “first date” I suppose. It was quite a nice day and they had a few outside tables so we decided we’d eat outside rather than inside, seemingly the only people in a busy restaurant to do so which was nice and that little more romantic being just the two of us.

However it was also rather cold! It might have been a nice warm day with the sun bearing down on you but under a bit of shade it felt rather breezy and it quickly became clear why nobody else wanted to eat outside haha.

We made the most of it though. It was a little more intimate which is an added bonus on a first date. I can only speak for myself but I was nervous going in to dinner. We’d spent a little time together by this point but that had still either been with Maddie or Cassie, or even in exploring Moses Lake earlier we had something to distract us or catch our eye. “Hey! Look at that cool mural!”

Dinner was different because it’d just be us, literally given the setting, and that meant a focus on entertaining or engaging the other person. Conversational skills or social situations aren’t my biggest strength and there was definitely that fear that I’d bore Haleigh or that things just wouldn’t go well. It opens up the possibility of an awkward or uncomfortable end to the trip. You can get to know people to an extent online but it’s no substitute for actually spending time together in person and you always hope that step in a friendship or relationship or whatever goes smoothly.

Any fears or nervousness quickly disappeared. It instantly felt like I was having dinner with someone I’d known for years. It was easy and effortless and I think as far as first dates go, it was really enjoyable. I found Haleigh incredibly easy to spend time with and there was a natural chemistry there rather than having to force it. I definitely left dinner thinking there was a future for us and it set the mood for the rest of the evening. After eating we were able to just relax back at the apartment and watch a bit of Netflix before bed.

Sadly Haleigh still had to work on Thursday so the next day I was left to explore Moses Lake solo. I looked online for a little inspiration or ideas on how to spend my day but there seemingly isn’t much in Moses Lake, I’d arguably seen most of it already.

I made the first stop of my day at one of the standout points of interest – the Japanese peace gardens in the city. They were so peaceful infact that I think I startled the man cutting the grass. There was nobody else here which made it nice to wander around, it’s only a small gardened area and isn’t somewhere that’s worth going out of your way to visit but it’s a nice little addition to Moses Lake. Plus it’s free so it was definitely worth having a look and I grabbed a handful of photos before moving on.

MosesLake26 — Japanese Peace Garden, Moses Lake

My next stop was at “Mason’s Place” – a small independent owned coffee place downtown. This has also become a bit of a regular haunt for me as it’s cosy and it’s also nice to support a local business in the process. I grabbed myself a tea and a seat at the window to “people watch”.

It turns out people-watching isn’t actually much fun in America. Everyone drives everywhere, they have drive-thru’s for literally everything. I’m not sure I saw a person outside of the coffee shop infact, plenty of parked cars but I don’t know where all the people who own those cars were. Bizarre and also quite boring – stick to people watching in Europe haha.

Having had my fix of tea I wandered down towards the lake which the town inevitably gets its name from. The water looked incredibly enticing and I can recall, at the time, uploading a photo to social media proclaiming its beauty and my temptation to jump in. Here’s said photo! Not bad right?

Ironically I saw an article quite recently advising people to avoid swimming in the lake as it’s toxic! I don’t think this was the case when I took this photo but probably just as well I didn’t jump in! Maybe settle for just walking alongside the lake and admiring the view instead which is what I ended up doing.

I wandered up towards a restaurant called “Michael’s on the Lake” which as you might guess is a restaurant offering lakeside views. It’s quite a nice restaurant, it was only after sitting down and looking at the menu that I realised they were part of the same company who own Rock Top. Purely coincidental in terms of me coming here but interesting given I’d visited Rock Top the evening before.

For the purpose of this coming story I’m going to actually name my waiter ‘Michael’, fitting with the restaurant’s name. Maybe Michael Jr would be better actually. ‘Michael’s’ service has stuck with me for the last two years and it’s a difficult one to try and fairly describe but the way I continually think of it is he essentially wasn’t a waiter.

He was this young guy, friendly, helpful but he lacked all of the typical waiting mannerisms. Don’t get me wrong, he was completely professional but I can only think he must have been relatively new at the job because he just didn’t come across as a waiter. Not in the sense that he didn’t know what he was doing, it was a good service, but he didn’t seem to have picked up those waiting traits or habits I suppose. I can recall a few occasions which are hard to describe but tickled me in a way.

As I said though it was actually a really good service, a little more personable I guess and I held out the hope I’d come back and see a different ‘Michael’ somewhere down the line. I’ve been back to the restaurant twice and not seen him, I hope if he has left that he’s gone on to better things!

Following on from a long lunch (I really did enjoy the service and stuck around for an extra beer or two), I made my way back towards Haleigh’s apartment, leaving time for one last detour. There’s a small (and free) museum in Moses Lake so I thought I’d go and check it out. One of the main pieces was some local artist’s work which was quite cool to see, it was a good way to pass some time too.

Back at the apartment I chilled out for a bit until Haleigh made it home. On Friday we were getting the whole “gang” together, joining Maddie and Cassie and spending the weekend in Seattle. So we had the option of either driving to Ellensburg in the morning or heading there Thursday night. We wanted to make an early start towards Seattle so decided to drive over to Maddie and Cassie’s that evening and stay at theirs overnight.

It was a pretty drive back to Ellensburg with the sun setting. I think every car ride or bus journey has been the same whenever I’ve visited Washington, I just have my face glued to the window and try and resist the temptation to take 1,000 photos. It’s such a pretty state.

Soon enough we’d reached Ellensburg. As I explained in my Ellensburg post here, Ellensburg is a college town and at the time Maddie and Cassie were both working on campus. Consequently we took a little trip over to Central Washington University (CWU).

It was an opportunity for me to have a little glimpse in to ‘college life’ in America. It was interesting to look around and seemed like a good size college. Haleigh gave me a little tour of the grounds before we checked in on a couple of Haleigh’s old friends from college which also helped kill a bit of time.

Having spent a little time looking around we wandered back to Maddie and Cassie’s and chilled out for the evening. We agreed a time to kick off the morning trip to Seattle and got ourselves a good night’s sleep. More on Seattle to come next!

Stay tuned!

Jason

Spokane – September 2017

After a fun couple of days in Ellensburg it was time for me to move on. Those following the trip will know I was in Washington State visiting Maddie, Cassie and Haleigh. I was obviously excited to see all three of them but I thought it might also be wise to break up the trip with a day for myself. It was no reflection on the company, it was more a case of learning lessons from trips in the past with other people. There are pros and cons to solo travel and likewise with group travel. I’m a bit of an introvert and enjoy my own space so I saw it as an opportunity to re-energise ahead of a busy end to the trip.

Consequently I was considering where in Washington I could feasibly go for a day. Washington is such a beautiful state so I wasn’t short of choices but in the end I opted for convenience as much as anything. I was leaving Ellensburg and would soon be visiting Haleigh in Moses Lake, both of which sit on the Greyhound bus route. Another city on that route was Spokane. It essentially meant I could get from Ellensburg to Spokane and then Spokane to Moses Lake pretty effortlessly.

So after Cassie dropped me off at the bus station in Ellensburg, I was on my way to a new city in Washington. It’s a nice journey from Ellensburg to Spokane, not as picturesque as Seattle to Ellensburg but still scenic enough to enjoy. My only concern was I’d left blue skies behind in Ellensburg and as we inched closer to Spokane the sky was beginning to turn very grey!

Washington88 — Driving towards a miserable Spokane!

By the time I got to Spokane it was probably around 3/4pm. The plan was to quickly go and check in to my hotel and then start exploring the city. Unfortunately I’d done little to preserve my phone life in the morning and then I spent probably too much of the bus journey taking photos of the view, by the time I reached Spokane my phone was dead.

I thought I had a good idea of where my hotel was, in relation to the bus station, but it turns out I didn’t have a bloody clue. I wandered for a bit but I’d arrived to a very wet Spokane experiencing a bit of a thunderstorm, not the best timing and I was drenched pretty quickly. With no way of locating my hotel I asked a couple of locals for some directions but with no success. I’d lucked out in Dallas a few months earlier in a similar situation but in wetter conditions it was time to abandon the “wing it” plan, instead I seeked shelter in a nearby bar!

My hope was they’d help me one way or another. Either I’d be able to charge my phone somewhere (I did) or they’d be able to offer me some directions. Allowing time for the former I grabbed a beer and took seat at one of the stools in this relatively small bar. By the time I’d finished my beer I had a better idea of where I needed to go and luckily the storm seemed to have passed.

Moving on, I went to find my hotel which ended up being pretty straight forward. More frustratingly I’d actually passed it on the bus and not noticed. There were some eye-catching murals on the side of the hotel building that I’d thought “I’d like to find those later..” and not realised that was where I was staying haha.

Beyond the cool murals, the hotel appearance itself didn’t fill me with much confidence. It had a sketchy vibe about it and the actual reception for checking in felt about as big as a garden shed – it was tiny! The receptionist was pretty friendly though and I figured it was only for one night. Given I went in with little confidence, the room was actually nicer than I’d anticipated. It was a nice room with a decent sized (and comfy) bed.

Having chilled out in the room for a little bit I went on the search for some dinner, I had a little scour of my options on Google Maps and decided to check out this place called ’24 Taps Burgers and Brews’. It had good reviews and, upon approaching it, the side of the building was lined with some more cool pieces of street art. Spokane was setting a good first impression on the street art front. Inside was essentially a sports bar and a bit of a casual hangout, I imagine at the weekend it’d be a lot busier but on a Tuesday it was pretty quiet.

Spokane7 — 24 Taps Burgers & Brews, Spokane

I ordered one of the burgers on the menu and likewise one of the 24 beers available on tap. On the TV directly above me they were showing the (Seattle) Mariners game, I knew we were seeing the Mariners in a few days time so I thought I’d try and pick up a few of the complexities of baseball (it’s just hit and run isn’t it?).

It’s not really a sport that is taken seriously in England if I’m being honest, partly as it’s likened to ‘Rounders’ which is primarily associated as being a game for kids here. The upgrade to Rounders is typically Cricket which shares some fundamental rules (hit and run) but is a different sport from baseball/rounders. I tried enjoying the game on TV but wasn’t yet sold on the baseball experience (stay tuned for my live experience in Seattle!).

Partway through my meal I realised that the place actually sold ‘beer flights’ or tasting menu. I picked up a beer menu and feeling a little intrigued thought I’d try a few more West Coast beers, choosing four from the 24 (well, 23 as I’d had one already) beers on tap. I think I ended up trying two from Washington breweries and two from Oregon breweries, with the latter being equally enjoyable!

Spokane12 — Working my way through the 24!

I could quite happily have stayed there for the evening but during my Google search another bar had caught my eye – “Baby Bar”. It had really good reviews, was just around the corner from where I was staying and I’ll be honest and say the name caught my eye too. Baby bar? Okay, Spokane..

Anyway, off I went in search of it! It wasn’t actually that easy to find. I was wandering in its general proximity and yet there was no clear sign of it. Google Maps suggested I was in the right spot but there was nothing here. I easily found the restaurant next door which suggested I was in the right place but this Baby Bar seemingly didn’t exist.

I joked in my post on Salzburg at the absurdity of Flo suggesting we go “next door” to get in to this bar. Well would you believe it, I took the crazy Austrian’s advice here in Spokane. With no sign of this bar anywhere I thought I’d peer my head in the restaurant next door didn’t I?

You’d have been forgiven for thinking this restaurant was closed too. The sign on the door read ‘open’ but it was incredibly dark if it was open for business. Maybe that’s the mood or whatever they were going for but it wouldn’t have been a place I would have walked in for food. After peering my head in something drew me towards the dark corridor at the back of the room – almost in a possessed manner.

I didn’t even ask the staff in the restaurant for guidance. “Oh hey, is this bar here?” – No, I just floated towards the darkness. Looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking. Was I just following intuition? I don’t know but the image was essentially your classic horror story moment.

“Don’t do it Jason! Turn around..”

Watching at home you wonder how the characters find themselves in these horror-laden scenarios and yet here I was wandering down this long and dark corridor. At the very end was this mysterious door which I’m convinced just seemed to get further and further away as I walked towards it. This was it. This is how and where I was going to die, typically miles from home in a place no-one would think to look for me. I eventually reached this door in baited breath and pushed.

On the other side of this door was a cosy little bar – Baby Bar! I’d actually found it! Now you might think I’m exaggerating the story and often when it sounds absurd writing it down I end up doubting my memory. So I thought I’d google Spokane’s infamous Baby Bar and found this amusing little excerpt from The Spokesman Review

With room for five taps and 25 people, Baby Bar is incoherently cosy. Hidden away in plain sight, it also sort of feels like a secret. There are no windows. The ceiling is painted black. And there’s only one way in and out; through a single door that leads down a darkened hallway.

It was the perfect hideaway bar, it had that speakeasy kind of feel to it that if you didn’t know of its existence you’d never see it. As the review above suggests, there are no windows, only one way in and yet it had an incredible warmth to it the second you arrived. The lighting and the atmosphere just made it seem homely and instantly you could see why Baby Bar was so highly rated. I loved it!

I took seat at the bar and ordered myself a beer. It had been worth the effort finding it. The barman was friendly and I knew it would be a frequent hangout for me if I was a Spokane local. After my third beer I called it a night. I was a tad drunk having already had the earlier beers and so sensibly, for once perhaps, knew it was time to head back to my hotel and sleep. I asked the barman if I could settle my tab – “$9 please..”

Wait, nine? Did I hear that right? I’ve had three beers? Am I only paying $3 a beer here? It was cheaper than I’d expected it to be. I settled my tab for the first three, tip included, but ended up ordering a fourth at the same time. “Last one..”

Halfway in to my pint I realised that was a mistake. This was just one beer too many and any more I’d be throwing up either tonight or tomorrow morning. I sensibly walked away and let it go to waste and wandered back to my hotel which luckily was only on the next street over. I think within 5 minutes of leaving Baby Bar I was asleep, crashing the second my head hit the pillow.

On the plus side, my sensibly timed departure meant I wasn’t suffering the next morning. I’d got settled in to Spokane a little later than anticipated so all I’d really done thus far was eat and drink. I was keen to see a bit of Spokane at least before catching my lunchtime bus.

I kicked off my day with a visit to the ‘Satellite Diner’. It was surprisingly busy given I visited in ‘working hours’, it must have been about 9-9:30ish on a Wednesday morning and Spokane didn’t come across as a tourist hotspot so I thought it might have been emptier. The busy-ness gave me some comfort that it’d be a good place to eat though. I pondered the menu and really fancied pancakes – plural, obviously. One of the items on the menu was a pancake.

“Singular?”

You could say that’s a bit weird, right? You could also possibly call it a sign. I ordered the ‘two pancakes’ option and as my plate was placed in front of me I realised why they sell singular pancakes. They were bloody huge! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bigger pancake infact. I probably should have taken a photo (FYI, I’d make a terrible food blogger). The guy at a nearby table was equally amazed at its size. I gave it a good go but (I think) it bested me. I couldn’t finish it. On the plus side it was a filling start to my day and explorations.

I hadn’t really researched things to do in Spokane which inevitably meant I didn’t really find much to do with my last couple of hours, I’m sure there is more to do in Spokane but I just ended up winging it a bit. I thought I’d kick things off by wandering over to Spokane’s Riverfront park. It’s a peaceful spot, nice to walk through and is also home to a few interesting things.

Feeling a little conscious of venturing too far from the bus station I wandered back in to the downtown area, there didn’t seem to be too much of note but I popped my head in to a few shops to help kill a bit of time. Soon enough it was time to check in and catch my bus. All in all it had been a nice trip to Spokane, albeit most of the fun was spread over the evening.

It’s somewhere I’ll possibly go back to and explore a little further, I’ve since read of other people who’ve visited including fellow travel blogger Sarah who went recently and shares a few other ideas and actually makes me want to go back but it had been a good introduction to this small and charming city.

Up next? Moses Lake.

Stay tuned!

Jason

Ellensburg – Sep 2017

Following on from my last post (read me), I was finally making my way over to Washington State for the first time! It’s an incredibly beautiful state but the motivation for my trip was the company and the opportunity to finally meet Maddie, Cassie and Haleigh. I was both excited and nervous!

I kicked off my Sunday morning waking up in London. Tottenham had been playing over at Wembley on Saturday evening and it didn’t seem worthwhile going all the way back to Peterborough just to fly out of London on Sunday morning. With that said, with Tottenham playing at Wembley I decided I’d just book a hotel for the night near Wembley Stadium and I found that it’s such an inconvenient part of London to try to get to Heathrow from.

In fairness I think if you take the ‘Heathrow Express’ train you can get there quickly and quite conveniently from Wembley but I’d rather save money by taking the tube which meant going back towards Central London to then come back out again towards Heathrow. Beforehand I’d envisaged getting a bit of a lay in or a more relaxing morning but between the long tube journey and a Sunday service I’m not sure my day would have started much differently had I just gone home for the night instead. Oh well, lesson learned I suppose (Wembley’s a pain!).

Anyway, eventually I was arriving at Heathrow and breezing through security. I decided I’d find somewhere to get some breakfast in the airport and found a place with pancakes on the menu which seemed the perfect way to kick off the American adventure!

Soon enough I was on the way to Seattle – that city all the way over on the West Coast of the USA – I think it’s something like 4,500 miles away. It was my longest journey since flying to Sydney four years earlier and when you look on a map they couldn’t seem further apart. You’ve got Sydney sitting down in the South East corner of the World and Seattle sitting up in the North West. With England somewhere in the middle both cities feel so far away!

Fortunately unlike Sydney, you can at least fly directly from London to Seattle so the journey didn’t seem too bad. I kept myself amused with the in-flight entertainment and landed in Washington at around 3:30pm local time I think (11:30pm UK time).

Maddie, Cassie and Haleigh were all waiting for me at Seatac airport with a surprise welcome sign to greet me. Unfortunately for them they weren’t waiting at the same section I came out of. I came out of security with no idea where they were and the airport Wi-Fi wasn’t being too co-operative so I couldn’t drop one of them a message.

Instead I figured I’d just walk for a bit and hoped I’d either see them or find a better Wi-Fi spot in the airport. It ended up being the former, I hadn’t walked too far when I spotted the three of them and started approaching them. Amusingly though they had their backs to me so they ended up getting the surprise rather than the other way around. Oops! Haha.

Having said our hello’s we quickly made our way over to the car park to get out of Seatac asap! Although I’d flown in to Seattle, we wouldn’t actually be spending any time in the city until Friday. I was spending my first couple of nights in Ellensburg with Maddie and Cassie where the pair of them lived.

Ellensburg’s a college town, a town which both Maddie and Cassie went to college in (and Haleigh did previously). It’s a couple of hours away from Seattle which sits on the West side of the mountains, with Ellensburg sitting on the East side of the mountains. Consequently that meant driving through / over the mountains to get back to Ellensburg.

Before leaving the Seattle area we made a quick stop and dropped in on Cassie’s family, Cassie had something she needed to pick up and take home so it was a nice opportunity to be introduced to some of her family before we headed back. We then picked up some pizza for the drive home and were on our way.

I think I pretty much spent the entire journey with my face glued to the window. It probably doesn’t help that I live in such a flat part of England but the mountain views just had me in complete awe. The funny thing being that due to the current climate the view was nowhere near as good as it usually is.

The above picture was from a spring visit this year but for this particular trip Washington was still suffering the aftermath of forest fires in the region. The day that I arrived was actually the first bit of rain they’d had in a while and it was much needed. Despite a little rain the sky was still a bit hazy, the air quality was awful and the smoke, oh my god the smoke..

Theoretically it wasn’t even that bad, this was essentially post-fire-smoke lingering in the air and yet I still found the smoke unbearable. I dread to think how bad the air quality was whilst the fires were going on. Even with the windows of the car closed all I could taste was smoke in my mouth, my throat felt awful for a good 2-3 days after arriving in Washington.

Soon enough I’d unstuck my face from the window because we’d arrived on the other side of the mountains and we were finally in Ellensburg. Sadly Haleigh was teaching on Monday morning so couldn’t stick around to spend the evening with us.

Myself, Maddie and Cassie relaxed for a little bit but soon went out to get a couple of beers at one of Ellensburg’s bars, forgive me but I can’t remember the name of it. It was cool though and also nice to have my first Washington beer. I always enjoy trying the local beers and seeing how they compare across the globe.

We weren’t out too late which I was quite appreciative of, the eight hour time difference is a bit of a killer. I think it was about 4-5am UK time by the time I’d got myself to bed. It had been a nice start to the trip but I needed a good night’s rest to set me up for the rest of the trip.

The next morning I was up at a fairly reasonable time. I don’t know if I was the first one awake but first one downstairs at least which seemed to please the four-legged housemates, particularly the dogs. Hamilton and Olivia were both friendly and didn’t seem fazed at having me around. Olivia in particular was constantly seeking attention so I’d quickly made a new friend in her. The cats were a little less curious although did come and sit with me at various points of my stay which was nice and I managed to sneak in a few photos before they ran off.

As suggested further up, Ellensburg is a college town and consequently not really somewhere that tourists tend to visit. Nevertheless I was personally looking forward to seeing what Ellensburg had to offer, it can be nice getting away from the big cities and seeing a different side to the US. With the sheer size of the country you quickly see how diverse it is from place to place.

Maddie wasn’t feeling particularly great so we didn’t do too much with our morning other than relax. For lunch we went out to some teriyaki chicken place. It’s not something I’ve ever really seen here so I guess isn’t as popular in the UK, by all means feel free to correct me but it was the first time I’d tried it anyway.

It was enjoyable but the portion was way too big, I think the sauce grows sickly after a while too so it’s something I could eat again but not something I could eat a lot of if that makes sense?

Following on from lunch we ventured over to the Kittitas County historical museum. It was small but worth a visit, free admission too which was a bonus! I can’t expect they get many English visitors so I made sure to sign the guestbook after having had a look around the museum. It was interesting.

We popped in to some shop afterwards and then made our way back to the house. Cassie had to work and it was a good opportunity for Maddie to get a little rest before making evening plans. I took it as a chance to catch up on the happenings back home and keep the four-legged ones company.

In the evening we went out to “the Tav” – an Ellensburg favourite which is a nice little sports bar in town. I’ve been there a couple of times now and it has had a nice atmosphere on both occasions. I’m sure it’d be a good place to go and watch a big sports game too although my visits have only ever been on a casual basis so I’m just speculating haha. We met one of Maddie’s friends again, grabbed some food and had a couple of beers before moving on to a bar called ‘Shooters’.

Shooters is essentially a gaming bar – a mixture of video and board games which cover all of the classics plus modern day favourites. It’s quite a small place but that makes it cosy too.

Again it had a friendly atmosphere, a good range of different beers to try and then you can play a variety of games depending on what you’re in the mood for. The three of us ended up playing a bit of Star Wars Monopoly before calling it a night, such is the length of Monopoly I don’t think we got near finishing it so ended without a winner haha.

We grabbed some food on the drive home which gave me another ‘first’ – my first ever churro! I’d say if you’re going to try your first churro perhaps save it for Spain rather than Washington but they were still good and it was welcome timing to try them too given I was going to be in Madrid a month later.

Cassie finished up work around the same time so we rounded off the evening eating food and chatting before heading to sleep. The next morning I chilled out a bit before Cassie kindly dropped me over at the bus station as I made my way on to my second destination of this trip.

Ellensburg had offered a fun start to my time in Washington. After so many years of friendship I’d finally got to spend some time with Maddie, Cassie had made me feel equally welcome in their home and of course I’d made a few new four-legged friends too. It was a good start to the trip but I was excited to see what was yet to come. I’d be seeing Maddie and Cassie again before heading home but for now it was time to bid farewell to Ellensburg. I boarded my bus and was heading for Spokane!

Washington State – An introduction – Sep 2017

As promised last time out on the blog, my next few posts are going to be dedicated to various cities and towns throughout the state of Washington but first I want to give you a little background.

Without doubt one of the greatest things about the internet are the connections it allows us to make to people all over the world. A simple conversation online can lead to friendships or relationships that last a lifetime. At 31 years old I’ve spent over half of my life online and in that time I’ve crossed paths with an incredible number of people online, some of which I’ve known a good 10-15+ years!

As someone with a real interest in traveling it’s quite a luxury to have friends all over the world but one country in particular stands out on that front: the USA! I reckon I could probably go to any state in the country and know someone in some capacity.

In 2017 I made an effort to go and visit some of those lovely people across the pond. The first trip took me to Washington DC, Nashville and Dallas which gave me a great chance to finally see some of my favourite people! It was long overdue!

However not content with just one Washington visit, I was soon booking flights to visit Washington State on the opposite coast to see a few more of my favourites: Maddie, Cassie and Haleigh!

Myself and Maddie had met online a number of years earlier and it was always in my mind to go and visit Seattle/Washington at some point. Eventually that opportunity presented itself, Maddie sent a proposition my way in early 2016 which went something along the lines of “Hey.. would two years be enough notice for you to come to my wedding?”

I was honoured! Of course I’d be there! I’d like to think I’d have gone irrespective of how much notice I’d been given but two years was plenty! I stuck a little pin in the calendar for August 2018 and was excited at making what would presumably be my first trip (ha!) to the USA’s West coast!

Poulsbo61

With wedding plans progressing, later in the year (2016) Maddie introduced me to Cassie (the bride) and also their friend Haleigh. It was great! I now had three lovely people to visit in Washington!

“So that’s how you met!”

Alright, you got me! This story might have been a bit more suspenseful had some of you not read about Haleigh previously or in some cases even met Haleigh here in England. However it’s safe to say it’s a “friendship” that clicked pretty instantly.

I wasn’t really thinking about anything long-distance but I was excited to have another friend at the wedding outside of the happy couple. However as time went on and we continued talking regularly it seemed there was clearly a spark between myself and Haleigh.

Whether that spark was enough to lead to anything more was another matter. I wasn’t dead set against long distance but inevitably I had my doubts, not helped by the fact this was yet again further from home as if Germany or Georgia hadn’t been far enough away.

“Seriously Jason, could you not just fall for a nice local girl?”
“Obviously not..”

There were a number of factors to consider so we just kept things at a “see how it goes” basis but it got to a point where I figured I’d just be better off knowing where we stood. Whilst we were both single and not looking elsewhere, the spark online doesn’t always necessarily translate when spending time in person. The wedding was still over a year away and did either of us really want to wait that long to see how compatible we were? It’s a long time to put your life on hold for a maybe. It could also have been a really awkward wedding day and I didn’t want to spoil it in anyway.

Rather than wait until August 2018, instead I booked flights and decided to visit a year earlier – heading for Washington State come September 2017. Therefore I was visiting the US for the second time in 2017 and this time getting to experience “the other Washington” – not to be confused with Washington DC on the East coast.

Obviously it’ll be no surprise to hear things went well! There have been multiple trips to Washington since then, including for the wedding of the year (2018) but you’ll have to wait to hear about those adventures until another day. This particular series will be focusing on that very first trip to the West coast, seeing three wonderful people and exploring Ellensburg, Spokane, Moses Lake and Seattle.

Next up on the blog? The start of that trip in Ellensburg! Stay tuned!

Jason

Big news, big changes!

Here’s a little bonus post for you this week because last time out on the blog (here) I promised that my next post would be revealing my plans for 2020!

I always like to kick off any post with a bit of an introduction and I’ve rewritten this several different ways to try and achieve that. However I think that actually I’m going to keep this post relatively short and sweet and just break the news to you!

I’m leaving!

Fear not beloved readers, Jason Likes To Travel as a blog is going nowhere so your “favourite blogger” will still be around, however I am leaving! As some of you will already know, I’ve made plans to leave my job of 8 years, leave my home and go and ‘live’ out in Washington State for three months.

It is of course only temporary, I will be coming back to England! I fly out to Washington on February 3rd and I’ll be flying back to England on May 1st. It’s also currently ‘unofficial’ as far as work are concerned, I don’t plan on officially handing my notice in until December so for any work folk reading please keep that in mind. They are aware of my plans but I’d rather you didn’t go shouting about it through the office just yet (Thanks!).

So there you go! That’s my big reveal! Some big news and big changes are coming in the New Year! Whilst it is only temporary, it’s also going to be a completely new experience. It’s exciting but equally nerve-wrecking to be doing something completely out of my comfort zone.

I don’t really know what 2020 has in store for me beyond those three months and that’s quite weird, that unstable and spontaneous lifestyle isn’t really who I am. I’m ‘Weetabix boy’ who has two Weetabix every day for 31 years (few exceptions). I’ve spent the bulk of this past decade living in the same house and working in the same office such is the predictability of my life. Of course I’ve traveled a lot over that decade but the reality is I’m boring, safe, predictable, comfortable and live the easy life. A life of routine you might say.

In 2020 I’m signing up for the opposite of all of that! Will things go well in Washington or will they go horrifically? Will I struggle being away from England for that long? Will I easily find a job when I come back? What state will my finances be in after 12 weeks of unemployment?

I haven’t got a bloody clue! That should perhaps terrify me, and admittedly for clarity I do have the luxury of a roof over my head when I come back, but it doesn’t scare me! I’m embracing the uncertainty. I’m going in to this with a feeling of “no regrets” and feeling ready for it! The reality is that change is coming but I’m optimistic that its positive change that is coming! I guess time will tell!

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Next up on the blog? A trip to Hamburg! Stay tuned!

Jason

Dallas – Days 3 & 4 – April 2017

After a late night the day before (catch up here) I was in no rush to get out of bed on Friday morning, despite being my last full day in the city. It looked like I probably wouldn’t be seeing Amber again on the trip, which was disappointing, but it gave me a day to do whatever I pleased.

Not that there was much I particularly wanted to do, with the exception of going up Reunion Tower I’d seen much of what I wanted to in Dallas. I figured I’d go and check out a museum or two in the city. I made my first stop of the day the Dallas Museum of Art which was about half a mile away from my hotel. It meant I got a nice little walk in the Texas sunshine on route.

Soon enough I’d arrived at the museum and made my way in. It was quickly apparent that I’d be sharing the museum with a school group so I let them determine which way I’d be going. You’re all heading off to the right? Great, it looks like I’m going left then!

FYI: kids are loud! This wasn’t exactly brand new information I’d only just come to realise but dare I say it – kids from Texas are particularly loud. I don’t know if they were extra hyped because it was a Friday and the weekend was close but it didn’t take long for the screaming and running teenagers to find me despite my best efforts to repeatedly escape them. I’m pretty sure they were duplicating along the way as they just kept popping out from nowhere.

Company aside, I quite liked the museum itself. Some of the art and exhibits were cool and it was a fun way to enjoy my morning. It’s not too big as some museums are either, you can definitely spend a decent amount of time looking around but still feel like you’ve seen most of the museum’s contents in one trip. Content that I’d seen all I wanted to, I moved on and attempted to escape the hordes of school children.

Close to the museum was Klyde Warren Park which I’d heard was a pretty nice spot within Dallas. I imagine it probably could be, however on this particular Friday morning it was ridiculously busy. It’s not the biggest park, it’s pretty small actually, and it just seemed like every patch of grass was occupied by somebody doing something. Kids running around, people doing yoga, people throwing a ball around or something. It wasn’t a spot to take a breather and relax so I didn’t really stick around for long.

By this point Amber had messaged me, suggesting she would be free after all and perhaps we could go to Reunion Tower in the evening along with her family. I wanted to see Amber and I wanted to visit Reunion Tower too so it was a no brainer – of course! It did somewhat change my plans though. Originally I’d figured I’d go see Reunion Tower earlier in the day and then spend my evening visiting some bars I’d had recommended to me.

With a change of plans I figured I’d wander over to those bars now and pick up some lunch at the same time. The two places I’d had recommended to me were both in the Lower Greenville area, about 3 miles away from where I currently was. I’m sure there are better means of transportation to get yourself there but I’m of the belief the best way to travel a new destination is on foot. It might seem crazy to some people perhaps but I decided to walk it.

It might have been a three mile walk but there was actually very little to catch my eye. This was as mundane as most walks come. It was nice to see more of a real side to Dallas, opposed to the touristy downtown views but I can’t say the walk had really been worthwhile. Nevertheless I managed to find the odd landmark or building that peaked my interest, took a quick photo and before I knew it I’d arrived at the bar I was particularly intrigued by – “Truck Yard”.

TruckYard — Dallas’ Truck Yard! Brews, Grub, Tunes!

It was instantly apparent why this place is so highly rated. The place was quirky and full of character and somewhere I quickly adored. Outside was just a jumble of mess really. You had a little lighthouse and long benches, a stage with a guitar hanging from the roof, an old Chevrelot which doubled up as a table to sit at. It reminded me a little of Szimpla Kert in Budapest but with a bit more American feeling to it.

I picked up a beer menu, ordered one of the (many) beers that sounded particularly tempting and I found myself a bench to sit at outside. Also outside were my lunch options! At the back of the ‘yard’ were a bunch of food trucks, adding a bit of substance to the name of ‘Truck Yard’. There were a few different options and I think I ended up grabbing food from at least two of them in my afternoon there.

After finishing off my lunch and my beer I contemplated what else to do with my day and came to the conclusion there probably wasn’t anything I really wanted to do. As I said in my day one post, Dallas isn’t really a touristy city. Reunion Tower was the last ‘must see’ for me and that was already scheduled in for later so I decided to stay put. There wasn’t much left of my trip before I had to go home so why not soak it up and enjoy it? It was a beautifully sunny day, I had a nice spot to sit and relax and that beer menu also looked particularly tempting for an afternoon of drinking.

The bar was surprisingly busy for a Friday afternoon, aided by about a dozen people in their 20’s walking in who’d just finished some charity event and presumably wanted to celebrate with a beer.

So far today I’d experienced a museum full of school kids, an overly crowded park and now a collective of fellow day-drinkers. It did beg the question if anyone in Dallas is actually productive on a Friday? Is anyone in school or work or whatever?

It seemed not! After a few beers I decided I’d better head back downtown, again choosing to walk the few miles to my hotel. The walk was a good way to sober up, in addition to stopping for a snack somewhere on the way.

Back at my hotel I dropped Amber a message to see what time she wanted to meet up, I had a bit of a wait so decided I’d just chill out at my hotel and temporarily “rest my eyes”.

I was quite conscious that with a few beers in me I might fall asleep, so I sensibly set an alarm just incase I dozed off. However it did little to avoid the inevitable happening and I woke up to darkness and a combination of a number of messages and miscalls from Amber – oops!

Fortunately I was staying close to Reunion tower, within walking distance infact, so a short while later I was apologetically arriving and meeting up with Amber and the family who’d made their way in to Dallas for the evening.

InDallas — Dallas by night, mid thunderstorm!

Reunion tower offered 360 degree views overlooking Dallas. I’m quite glad it ended up being one of the last things I did in the city, even better seeing it at night and in the midst of a thunderstorm. The lights of the city and the lightning flashing over it made for great viewing.

Unfortunately my afternoon nap had somewhat scuppered / delayed our dinner plans so following on from our fun at the tower we made our way out to dinner at some place with ridiculously sized meals. The added perk to eating here was that it was family friendly and there was a little play area, a little arcade like, so it kept Amber’s little girl (Blakely) amused and we found a few things to enjoy too!

Sadly with a little one our evening had to come to an end and as did my adventure seeing Amber. Amber drove me back to my hotel where we said our goodbyes and she headed home. It had been long overdue finally meeting and I was sad it had gone by so quickly.

I’d hoped to end my evening with a few drinks with our other friend Lanie, however it didn’t really materialise and we ended up taking a rain-check. Luckily only postponing things until the morning where we squeezed in a quick breakfast date before I left Dallas. We ended up going to some place that specialised in donuts so maybe not the healthiest breakfast but an enjoyable one! Haha.

It was nice to hang out again before I left Texas and we ended up having a good chat over a donut or two. Lanie kindly offered to drop me off at the airport which was also a good opportunity to listen to the end of Hamilton and also see how the other half lived! Our little detour on the way to the airport took us through what was a rich neighbourhood of fancy houses and mansions – vastly out of our price range but fun to look at all the different houses nonetheless. I didn’t get any photos but trust me when I say, some of them were beautiful!

Sadly I had to leave eventually. It had been a lovely end to my time in Dallas but like the night before, over far too quickly.

Overall I’m not too sure how Dallas rates as a city in its own right. I don’t feel like I did that much and additionally I don’t really feel like I missed out on anything else I’d wanted to do. It was fine as a city break but not somewhere I’d ordinarily feel I needed to visit again.

All that said, I have a fondness of Dallas and certainly think back fondly on this portion of the trip. It was a fun place to go out, there was cool street art throughout the city and given it’s a big city it doesn’t really have that touristy feel to it. I’ve no doubt most of the people I encountered were locals which makes it a worthwhile place visiting in my book.

On a personal note it was undoubtedly a highlight of my 2017 and I know it’s a city / state I’ll be returning to in the future. The company made it a wonderful few days and I’m craving a return to see some of my favourite people! Thanks again to Amber, Lanie and Macie for making it such a memorable first visit to Texas.

Sadly Dallas was the last of my three stops on this particular trip. I was asked a few times on my return what my favourite place had been and you really can’t compare the three. DC, Nashville and Dallas all offered amazing memories but they’re all incredibly different cities and nothing alike – once again showcasing how diverse the USA is. I’d recommend all of them for vastly different reasons and I’m likely to go back to all three at some point.

However as far as this trip is concerned it’s done and dusted so I’ll wrap this up here. Next up on the blog? Exciting news regarding my 2020 plans!

Stay tuned!

Jason

Dallas – Day Two – April 2017

Day one hadn’t really involved much. I’d planned to get in to Dallas around lunchtime and a police stop added about an hour on to our journey, by the time I’d checked in and stuff it wasn’t worthwhile doing much else before grabbing dinner with Amber and Macie before a few drinks followed. You can read more about that here.

Anyway, the next morning allowed me a chance to get my first real glimpse of Dallas and find my bearings. From a tourist point of view there isn’t huge amounts to do in Dallas so I didn’t have any major plans for my time in the city, my visit was based around visiting friends.

One of the few things I did know about Dallas was that it was the location of the famous JFK assassination so I decided I’d start my day with something JFK related and visit the JFK memorial.

Don’t bother!

IMAG5627 — The JFK memorial. No, seriously, this is it.

Everybody interprets art differently but I just didn’t “get it”.. It’s an eye-sore and walking up to it you wouldn’t have a clue what it’s a memorial for. The USA has some incredible memorials but this isn’t one of them and I found it a real shame. I’d gone to see the memorial and instead my eyes were drawn to a pretty building across the street. The memorial was such a disappointment!

My plan afterwards had been to visit one of the museums which had been recommended to me – the 6th floor museum which overlooks Dealey Plaza where JFK was assassinated but I’d had enough JFK disappointment for one day and decided I’d have to have a re-think. In the end I opted to go to Dallas’ aquarium instead.

The aquarium was busy, I think there were a few school groups on a day out so I felt like I spent a chunk of my time there trying to hurdle children. It was alright but not the best aquarium I’ve been to. When I visited Atlanta a year earlier, its aquarium proclaimed itself as the best in North America and I’d have to agree Atlanta’s was better than Dallas’. It’s still a good day out for the kids though.

Following on from a bit of time at the aquarium my attention switched to lunch. For those that have followed my travels you’ll possibly know that I’m a bit of a Hard Rock Café fanatic and in close vicinity of the aquarium was Dallas’ own HRC so it seemed a good lunch spot.

Unfortunately the HRC had other ideas, they were closed to the public due to a private party! I didn’t even know you could do that! Consequently it meant I wouldn’t be adding Dallas to the list of Hard Rock Café’s I’ve been to, I suppose it gives me an additional reason to return to Dallas though!

Seeing as I wouldn’t be eating at the HRC I contemplated where else I could go and decided I’d try find somewhere close to where I’d had dinner last night as there seemed to be a few places in the area.

On route I passed one of Dallas’ weirdest points of interest. The good thing about exploring on foot is you tend to see a lot more and I was taking in all of the views when I felt like I was being watched! Something on the opposite side of the street caught my attention – a massive eye ball!

I’d only passed it by chance but had to cross the street to get a better look, you can’t get particularly close to it but it was interesting nonetheless. Swiftly moving on eventually saw me arriving in to the Dallas area known as “Deep Ellum”. I passed the bar we’d eaten at the night before which was perhaps on the outskirts of Deep Ellum because once you get in to the heart of the area what you’ll find is street art everywhere!

It was quite the surprise! The whole area is full of art covered walls and murals. I was in amazement at the amount of art in the area on street after street after street. It’s an area you HAVE to visit in Dallas, particularly if like myself you’ve got an interest in seeing street art when you travel. I allowed myself to get lost for what felt like ages – every time I thought I was finished admiring it I’d spot another mural on the next street along.

My favourite piece was probably the proposal. I spotted a wall with “I LOVE YOU” written in massive writing and then on the corner of the wall a sweet little message asking the girl to get married. I thought it was such a clever idea and hopefully wasn’t wasted with a rejection! If anyone knows, please tell me she said yes? Haha.

IMAG5693

IMAG5691

My street art admiration had completely distracted from my original intentions which were to find food! Eventually I stumbled upon a pizza place called “Serious Pizza” and it felt a pretty apt name. This was a serious pizza! The size of the slices were huge! I ordered a slice and it was still bigger than I’d anticipated! Two hands definitely needed!
Serious pizza wasn’t just serious about its food, the local area had obviously offered some inspiration and the walls were covered with their own murals which I thought were pretty cool! My favourite being the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles inspired piece.

IMAG5672

Having spent my afternoon trawling the area admiring the food and the art I popped in to one of the bars in the area for a drink to kill a little time before meeting up with Amber later on. The plan for the evening was a quick trip to Oklahoma!

Something that had come up in conversation at dinner the night before had been that I’d never been to a casino! They’re not common in the UK, I’m not sure why really as you can place a bet on just about anything here. Going to a casino sounded fun but the UK wasn’t the only place with a lack of casinos, gambling laws prohibit Texas from having them so we were contemplating driving up to Oklahoma or over to Louisiana and in the end we found ourselves driving up to Durant, Oklahoma.

It wasn’t a huge drive, an hour or so perhaps. Amber and another friend, Lanie, came and met me in Dallas and then we made the drive up together. It was fun to go on a mini road-trip together and cross the state line too! The car ride included Lanie introducing us to the famous musical “Hamilton”.

I knew of it but I’d never listened to it so we spent our trip up to Oklahoma listening to the first half of it and it won me over pretty quickly. It is something I’ve listened to a LOT since coming back from Texas and I’d definitely go and see it live so thank you Lanie!

Soon we were arriving in to Durant’s big casino. I always anticipated I’d visit a casino some day but it was always more likely to be Vegas if anywhere. Vegas I expect to be wild, big, noisy, lively. This had a very different vibe to it and felt more family-focused.

It was still fun but most of the other visitors seemed of an older generation. I took out about $20 I think and that was pretty much my limit. For me it was really the equivalent of playing the 2p machines you get at seaside resorts in the UK. You put your money in until it’s gone and that was pretty much my thinking here – spend the $20 until it’s all gone.

Had I won huge I wouldn’t have complained but I pretty much stuck to the $0.01 machines so there weren’t exactly huge rewards anyway. It was a fun time and I’m glad I’ve had my first casino experience. Vegas is still very much on the list but I think the need for more casinos in the UK isn’t something that would particularly bother me.

IMAG5722 — Choctaw casino in Durant, Oklahoma

After leaving the casino we made the slow drive back to Dallas, taking a little detour through some more rural parts of Northern Texas. Amber gave me a little tour of where she’d grown up, went to school and even the town she worked in now. It was pretty late and consequently dark but it was still cool getting to see this small part of Texas and putting an image to the places I was vaguely familiar with because of Amber.

By the time they dropped me off at my hotel it was pretty late, silly o clock in the morning so I made my way up to my room and we said our goodbyes. It left me with just one full day left to enjoy in Dallas. Stay tuned for more on that!

Jason

Dallas – Day One – April 2017

If you read my last post (here) you’ll know that reaching Dallas was quite an ordeal but I was finally here! I was in Texas, probably five years too late but I’d actually made it. It felt a bit surreal. I didn’t really know much about Dallas in truth but I was here to finally see a friend (Amber) of many many years!

I arrived in Dallas with a dead phone after 15 hours on a bus so arriving at my hotel was firstly an opportunity to charge my phone but secondly to just enjoy a little bit of comfort. I’d done nothing but ‘relax’ and sit on a bus for hours but it felt nice to be away from that environment and in a comfy hotel room. Eventually my phone was back on and I was keen to see Amber as soon as possible.

I hadn’t really seen anything of Dallas yet but we arranged to meet for dinner at a nearby part of town, along with Amber’s friend Macie. This was a three-city-trip spanning Washington DC, Nashville and Dallas. One of the first impressions I made of DC was that the architecture in the city is stunning, my first taste of Nashville was hearing music absolutely everywhere! In contrast on my walk to our meeting point my first impression of Dallas was one of confusion – “why are there so many damn roadworks?” I don’t know what was happening in the city but they were everywhere and a bit of an inconvenience walking around too haha. Dallas was not off to the greatest of starts!

Anyway, I arrived at this little bar before Amber and Macie and couldn’t help but notice on the front door there was a sign reading something along the lines of “no guns permitted”. It astounded me! Did this need clarifying? Is America that gun crazy that you have to clarify that you’re a gun-free bar?

Maybe it’s the crazy European in me but would this put people off eating or drinking here? “I can’t take my gun to dinner? Forget it!”

Why would you need a gun with you? If that had read “guns welcome” instead would people legitimately have felt safer going in?
Don’t like your service? Shoot the waitress! Someone accidentally knocks your drink over? Blow their brains out! Maybe it’s just me but walking in to a bar full of guns (particularly adding alcohol in to the mix) would have me on edge if anything.

Anyway moving on from my own bemusement, Amber and Macie had soon arrived to join me and in we went (without guns obviously). I don’t really know how to explain the feel of the bar, it felt a little run down but in a charming way? I really liked the character of the place and I guess it felt a little more me – I’m not one for high-end cocktail bars haha.

Having browsed the menu I decided I was going to get a burger but wasn’t prepared for the judgment of all of Texas (slight exaggeration) that was coming my way.

“How would you like your burger?
“Well done please”
“You’re not from around here are you?”

Amber and Macie sat opposite me were both amused. My welcome to Texas had been a prolonged drug and gun search and yet I’d somehow committed a bigger Texan crime here!
“Well done?!!! In Texas? Time to rethink that no guns policy!”

I’d only been in Dallas five minutes and I’d already offended the locals. Dinner was good though and it was so nice to finally be spending time and chatting in person after such a long friendship.

IMAG5614 — Barcadia – Beers and arcade games, what more could you want?

After dinner we moved on to a nearby bar called Barcadia – a bar with the added bonus of a number of arcade games you could play. They had a bunch of the ‘classics’ which proved to be fun along with some drinks. Unfortunately it was only the two of us drinking, Macie was sadly the designated driver for the evening but “kindly” suggested that me and Amber do a “pickleback shot”. – whatever the hell that was!

Up for a drink and a little intrigued I went up to the bar, ordered myself a beer and then two pickleback shots. The pickleback came accompanied with one of the following. There were three choices, I can’t remember exactly what the choices were but it would have been one of the following four: Tequila, Sambuca, Vodka and Whiskey.

I have the feeling Amber decided on whiskey. I say whiskey because I was dreading it and I don’t think I would have with the other options! Whiskey usually results in me being sick immediately so I was expecting the worst but given how rare this opportunity was to enjoy the company I figured I’d drink whatever.

We’ll go under the premise it was whiskey. Irrespective of the choice, I still didn’t really know what a “pickleback” shot was, nor how you took it as she poured two drinks – the other being pickle juice. Was it like a Jagerbomb? Whiskey and pickle juice in one? Do you drink it seperately? What’s the deal?

I enquired with the barmaid who advised that you take the shot of whiskey and then follow it up with the pickle juice to “take the taste of the whiskey away”. It doesn’t sound too bad, right?
I don’t think pickle juice is all that common in England so it wasn’t something I’d ever had before – I don’t know what the consensus is across the pond but I hear the word juice and I’m expecting something nice! Something kids would drink, you know?

We get back to our table and I get ready. I’ve got one hand on the whiskey, one hand on the pickle juice. I’d already braced myself for the sickening taste of the whiskey so I had a firm grip on both glasses ready to wash down the taste with the pickle juice as quickly as possible. “Go!”

I downed the whiskey (or whatever it was) – “bleurgh”. It was everything I expected it would be– awful! Fear not though, here comes the pickle juice to save the day!

“BLEURGH. What the fuck is that?” I nearly gagged. My reaction had Amber and Macie in hysterics – I’d responded worse to the demon juice than I had the whiskey. There’s a reason pickle juice is not commonly consumed in England – it’s bloody awful!

Want to do a pickleback shot in Texas? Down the pickle juice and then have yourself a whiskey to take the taste away! I’m so glad I’d ordered a beer at the same time just so I had something to rid myself of the taste of the pickle juice. That pickleback shot still haunts me! Perhaps it’s karma for all of the times I’ve inflicted Jagerbombs upon people?

All that said, for some reason Amber loved them and kept going back for more. I stuck to the beer from that point on rather than attempt any other crazy concoctions of shots. After a few more pleasantly tasting drinks we decided we’d move on to our next bar – which just so happened to be home to a mechanical bull!

This bar had a few more people there but still wasn’t overly busy, probably because it was a Wednesday night. We ended up having a couple of beers and then attention focused to the bull – “when in Texas..”

I’d needed the few beers to get to a point where I was comfortable of making a fool of myself. I don’t think it went terribly, not that I stayed on for majorly long but it felt like an alright first attempt. It’s probably something I’d do again but maybe with a little focus on trying to enjoy it more, I think you get so wrapped up in concentrating on trying to stay on that you don’t enjoy it fully. Maybe that just comes with practice though.

We didn’t stay much longer after that. Amber was a little drunk and the pair of them still had a bit of a drive home so we called it a night. It’s a shame Macie hadn’t been able to have a few drinks with us but overall it had been a fun first night in Dallas.
Macie kindly dropped me back at my hotel before they headed home. On the drive I couldn’t help but admire night-time Dallas, much prettier on the eyes when lit up with the lights of the city.

JasonAmber4 — Me and (half of) Amber! Blame the photographer! Haha

It was a fun first evening in the city and we managed to get a couple of photos to mark the occasion, although hopefully next time in Texas we get some better ones and some with Amber’s whole face! Haha.

Anyway, early impressions were that I was going to enjoy my time in Dallas. Stay tuned to read all about the rest of my trip!

Jason

Welcome to the USA – Texas style!

Following on from Washington DC and Nashville, the third and final stop of my mini US tour (Apr 2017) was Dallas. If you’ve been with me on this journey from the beginning you’ll possibly remember that my motivation for this entire trip was to visit some friends,

With a friendship dating back well over 10 years, my first trip to Texas had been long overdue. I’d hoped to visit sooner but sometimes things don’t quite go to plan. Nevertheless it was finally happening and I was so excited! All I had to do was get there from Nashville.. I decided I’d take an overnight bus!

This was my first time traveling on a Greyhound bus and this story probably begs the question why it wasn’t my last. I thought an overnight bus journey was a fantastic idea. It was going to be a long journey (14-15 ish hours) whatever time I traveled so why not travel in “dead time” as I like to think of it. Why waste daytime hours traveling when you can do it in hours you’ll be sleeping, right?

A fool-proof plan so I thought – I was wrong! My bus left Nashville late on Tuesday evening and at around 2-3am I was being woken up and thrown off a bus in Memphis. “We need to clean the bus!”

Now? You couldn’t have done this in Nashville at a somewhat more reasonable time? Can’t you just clean around me? I want to sleep!

I remember little of Nashville’s bus station, and you can read why here, but Memphis’ I remember as clear as day. For one it was pretty small so a lap of the station didn’t take very long. Secondly, given I was a little drunk and sleepy I didn’t dare make use of the available seating in the station. I knew if I sat down I’d be waking up hours later stranded in Memphis – I had to ensure I stayed awake!

Following a 30-45 minute break we were finally allowed back on the bus and I fell asleep pretty instantly. My next memory was waking up in Little Rock to the most beautiful sunset! It felt like it anyway, the reality is it probably wasn’t but when you spend 13-14 hours on a bus you probably tend to exaggerate the highlights a little.

I admired it beautifully and swooned over Little Rock. Wait.. Little Rock? We’re in Arkansas! We’re no longer in Tennessee and we’re in a new state, that little bit closer to Texas! Feeling excited I made sure to stay awake from that point on and admired the sun rising up over the US.

Soon enough we’d arrived at our first stop in Texas, a scheduled 15 minute stop to allow us enough time to use the facilities and stock up on snacks. However before the first person could even get as far as stepping off the bus they were turned around and returned to their seats by two officers who climbed on board.

“Welcome to Texas! Time for a gun and drug search!”

Perhaps it’s something about the Southern states in the US but the whole “welcome to the USA” could do with a little work, some of you long-time readers will recall I had a similarly “warm welcome” on my trip to Atlanta. If you missed that you can read it here!

Anyway, back to Texas. I can’t recall what they actually said, I’ve probably put it friendlier than it actually was but nevertheless I was still more relaxed than most. As you’ve probably established by now I’m pretty laid back but additionally I knew I had nothing to worry about. Just co-operate and you’ll be gone!

One by one the officers rummaged through each passengers belongings before dismissing them from the bus. By the time my turn came I was fully prepared for them to look through what they needed to but what I perceived to be helpfulness went unnoticed. It didn’t stop a patronising bunch of questions anyway.

I don’t know if it’s just because we were inching that bit closer to Mexico but having seemingly answered all their questions correctly and having found nothing in my possession I was disposed of like vermin. I’m not sure there was a proper signal that suggested I could go, just a grunt and a look of bemusement at what I was still doing here.

“Oh, I’m free to go? Your communication skills are excellent by the way!”

I gathered my things together and picked up everything I didn’t want to leave behind on the bus and then committed the crime of the century. I thought I’d check my pockets to ensure I had everything I needed and then got smacked with the full force of this officer’s shitty attitude.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!!?”

“I..”

“Don’t put your hands in your pockets!”

“What? Why don’t you get stuffed!”

Alright, so maybe I skipped saying that last part but it certainly crossed my mind, worded a little stronger than that too. Why give me such shitty attitude over something so trivial and literally just after searching my body and my possessions? What exactly do you think are in my pockets that you don’t know about?

Despite having a million thoughts running through my head, I wasn’t sure any of them would actually be appreciated so I settled for smugly keeping them to myself (“Ha, I told him.. in my head at least..”) and getting off of the bus.

One by one passengers followed but a couple of guys were escorted off. I don’t know whether they’d actually found something in their possession or whether they just couldn’t bite their tongue if faced with the same “friendly” attitude.

Unfortunately the delays added a good hour on to our journey, all I wanted to do was get to Dallas. Eventually one of the guys came back, some young black guy who proudly proclaimed “Daddy’s back!” as he stepped on to the bus.

It was a well-received return on board including by myself, I loved the cockiness of it having been in no doubt he was probably panicking only a few minutes earlier. I guess if he had anything he was let off with a slap on the wrist.

I don’t know what happened with the other guy, perhaps he slipped back on and I didn’t notice but there was little concern from anyone else about his whereabouts and we were off! It’s surprising what a gun and drug search can do for the mood of the place.

Everyone had perked up a bit and the previously-quiet bus was now full of chatter, including my neighbour who’d brightened up a bit. Everyone was pleased to be on the way again and I suppose it provided a good story to tell at a later date. A warm welcome to Texas and further example of the famous Southern Hospitality. They don’t warn you about the interrogations and searches!

Fortunately it was an otherwise uneventful journey from there. My only other gripe with the journey was that the power outlets didn’t seem to work on board. I’d done nothing to preserve my battery life on my phone in Nashville on the presumption I could charge it overnight but none of the outlets seemed to be working so all of the passengers found themselves in the same predicament of not being able to charge our electronics.

Now ordinarily it wouldn’t be a problem but my own cockiness / confidence has risen quite significantly. I went to Sydney as a newbie traveller a few years earlier and didn’t have a clue what I was doing so I was ridiculously prepared. I knew journeys, locations, street names, adjacent street names and on and on and on. I knew Sydney better than the locals having not even been there! Alright, I’m exaggerating but you get the point. I was prepared for every eventuality and had an endless supply of paperwork (and copies) should anything go wrong.

Four years later why would you bother with any of that? I’ve travelled plenty and you don’t need to go to all of that effort. Contacts are on my phone, maps on my phone, accommodation details on my phone and consequently I arrived in to Dallas with a dead phone.

I’d made it to Dallas but now where do I go? I don’t know where I am, I don’t know how to get to my hotel, I don’t even know what hotel I’m staying at – what was the name of it again?

I figured I’d just wing it. Dallas is tiny right? I was obviously going to just stumble upon where I wanted to be. Let me add I’d remembered one small detail, I was staying on Commerce Street, I had no idea which hotel but I figured if all else failed I’d get a taxi to Commerce Street and charge my phone at an establishment somewhere to save me.

However I wasn’t in any rush so plan A was just to see where I ended up – perhaps I’d even find somewhere for lunch that I could also charge my phone at.

So I stepped out of the bus station and had a decision to make – left or right? I opted to go right but I only got as far as the street corner and something changed my mind. Travelers instincts or intuition maybe but right just didn’t feel right to me so I turned around. Left it is!

I walked in the opposite direction to the next street corner. Where am I anyway? I looked up and would you believe it, there was a sign reading ‘COMMERCE STREET’. Unbelievable! The one street in the entire city I had to find and it was there in front of me!

Now I know what you’re possibly thinking, it wasn’t coincidental. For instance Dallas’ bus station is downtown and I’d chosen to stay downtown, perhaps I’d picked this particular hotel as it was this close to the bus station. It certainly sounds like something I would do so I couldn’t rule it out but I don’t remember doing this and certainly at the time it wasn’t something I’d expected. It may have been pre-meditated but it was forgotten about by the time I’d reached Dallas.

Even with that stroke of luck in mind, I could easily have gone right instead of left! It might have been justice too and a lesson learned. I should have had to face the embarrassment of walking miles, getting ridiculously lost and then having some taxi driver mock me as we drove past the bus station on route back to my hotel.

However the reality was all I’d achieved was boosting my ego further! I’m a genius! I don’t need tonnes of paperwork, instead of biting me in the ass I’d ended up exactly where I wanted to be anyway.

Admittedly I still didn’t know what the name of the hotel was, nor which way up or down Commerce Street my hotel was. From memory I was stood at 1100 Commerce Street and I knew I was staying at 1900. I turned right and the next sign I came to was 1200 which was again a stroke of luck and before I knew it I’d arrived at my hotel problem-free.

I was met with a friendly receptionist, checked in and then collapsed in my room. I was finally in Dallas! Stay tuned for the rest of my first day next time on the blog!

Jason

Nashville – Part Two – April 2017

Hey everyone! It has been a little while since my last post so I thought I’d kick this post off with a little explanation as to why. Haleigh’s visit to England was the biggest reason why in all honesty, she was here for two weeks and obviously we wanted to maximise our time together around work. We spent a couple of days in Paris and did some other cool stuff. Additionally I turned 31 yesterday so another Wednesday passed me by without posting in honour of birthday things.

Speaking of which, I typically try and post once a week and Wednesday has generally been my day of the week I try and get a post out. I intend to change that going forward so welcome to the first of what will hopefully be a weekly Thursday evening post. I’m not particularly busy during the week but obviously things crop up from time to time. However Thursday is a day I’ll typically have free every week. Nobody has Thursday plans do they? (HA! If you know, you know.)

Anyway, last time out on the blog I talked about part one of my trip to Nashville so let’s get on with part two shall we?

Nashville had very quickly won me over on day one, you can read more about that here, but there was still the best part of a day left in the city for me to enjoy before my overnight bus journey to Dallas.

I’d had four nights in the US and three of those had been spent sleeping in a hostel in DC so it was hard to pull myself out of bed in the morning, I’d enjoyed my first night in a hotel and it had been particularly comfortable. Eventually I got up, freshened up and went to check out via a little detour. I hadn’t had time to use it but one of the selling points for the hotel was a guitar-shaped swimming pool and I had to swing by to get a photo before departing. Very fitting for music city!

Having checked out of the hotel I made my way back over the “deadly” bridge from the night before and in to downtown Nashville. I had a few ideas on what I could do in the city but the first thing that really caught my eye was a sign for the Johnny Cash museum, I was a little intrigued so walked down towards it but just before I got there I stumbled upon the ‘Sun Diner’. I wasn’t seeking breakfast but all of a sudden it seemed really appealing so I popped in.

Inside was this pretty diner. I don’t know if it had any connection to Tennessee’s famous Sun Record Company but given the name and the long wall of portraits and memorabilia it seemed plausible. If there is no connection, it certainly seems to have been inspired by Tennessee’s musical history. The food was good too! I ordered some pancakes and along with a cosy atmosphere it’s certainly a breakfast spot I’d recommend.

Given the Johnny Cash museum was only next door you think I might have made this my next stop following on from breakfast but oddly by the time I’d finished I didn’t really fancy it. I continued exploring and soon came across Nashville’s Hall of Fame walk. It’s essentially Nashville’s Hollywood equivalent with the floor covered in stars representing musical legends such as Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and more.

Moving on, one thing that had repeatedly been recommended to me was Nashville’s country hall of fame museum. I really wanted to see what all of the fuss was about so made this my next stop. With minimal exceptions, country music isn’t something we’re typically exposed to in the UK and consequently wasn’t a genre I’d really grown up with so I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this museum too much.

It didn’t get off to the best of starts with the first exhibit being dedicated to ‘Alabama’. My first thought was actually that it was a cool concept. So this room would be dedicated to the state of Alabama, perhaps Tennessee another and who knows what other country-loving states they’d exhibit. However I’d completely misunderstood, this wasn’t a room dedicated to the state of Alabama, it was dedicated to the “world famous” band called Alabama.

IMAG5531 — Alabama! The band, not the state!

Oh of course! That amazing, incredibly well known, highly successful band called.. wait, who? Alabama? Well known? Highly successful? I’ve never heard of these guys!

Admittedly I don’t pretend to be some musical guru, history will prove I’m a terrible pub-quiz teammate when it comes to music rounds but throw me a bone here. I’d gone in to this museum worried that I knew nothing about country music and this first exhibit pretty much smacked that theory right in my face. I was now worried the museum was going to be a complete bust.

Don’t get me wrong, the Alabama exhibit was actually quite interesting and informative. I went out of there feeling like I knew the band a little better and the exhibit was well presented too. Ultimately though it meant nothing to me and was probably one for the Alabama fans.

Fortunately things picked up from there and I LOVED the rest of the museum. I quickly appreciated how much influence country music had had on the world and some of the great legends and musical icons that the genre had given us. The museum delved in to a number of household names. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift and on and on and on.

It’s an incredible museum, one of the most enjoyable I’ve been to infact. It was presented really nice, not overly crowded, really interesting and there were plenty of interactive pieces too. Be it memorabilia or access to unreleased clips I just seemed to find myself immersed in to the world of country. I spent far longer exploring the museum than I’d anticipated and probably could have enjoyed it for longer too. However I was conscious that there was still more of Nashville for me to see.

It was around 1 by the time I came out I think so my morning had flown by. Unfortunately by the time I exited the museum, rain had appeared. I stepped out in to the street and there was a light drizzle so I decided to duck in to one of the first bars I encountered to get out of the rain. I figured I could have a quick drink whilst waiting for the rain to pass and catch a bit of the set from the band setting up on the stage in the corner.

I finished off my beer but the band hadn’t started yet so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ordered a second, I wanted to hear a couple of songs at the very least! The band eventually kicked things off and were quite good, the old couple that had been sat next to me at the bar got up to dance which was just adorable.

By beer number three the heavens had opened, there was a fully blown thunder-storm which combined with the near-perfect setting gave me zero desire to head back out in to the street. Others looked on (and filmed on their phones) in amazement at how badly it was coming down. Every few minutes some poor drenched soul would come flying through the door seeking shelter. Until things calmed down I had no intention of going anywhere and continued to enjoy the music, friendly atmosphere and an attentive barmaid who kept the beer flowing.

Beer four was quickly followed by beer number five and oh would you look at the time – it’s drunk-o-clock! This was NOT how things were supposed to go. I was catching a 14 hour ish bus to Dallas that night and my big plan to ensure I slept easy was to spend my evening bar-hopping and having a few beers. Beer makes me sleep easy so it was a fool-proof plan to get sleep on an overnight bus.

However my morning and afternoon was reserved for exploring Nashville, this damn thunderstorm had scuppered my afternoon plans. Instead of exploring Nashville all I’d achieved was a ‘rehearsal’ to the evening plans. I realised I was going to have to grab some food which unfortunately wasn’t a possibility where I was, sadly I was going to have to brave the miserable Nashville weather.

My intention was to walk down to the Hard Rock Café at the end of Broadway, I’m a fan of HRC’s anyway but where better to visit one than in music city? Sadly I quickly abandoned that plan, I didn’t fancy the extra two hundred yards down the street and jumped in to a restaurant a little closer. In hindsight it was probably a bad decision and I should have powered on to the HRC. I didn’t really enjoy my choice.

The food was fine but it wasn’t a “here for the night” place so with a fuller stomach I moved on. I had been recommended a couple of bars and wanted to see at least one of them before leaving Nashville so made my way over to the famous and highly rated BB Kings.

In all honesty I just didn’t feel it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t visit but personally I just felt completely out of place! Admittedly the numerous beers earlier probably hadn’t helped and made me a little more paranoid because I just felt like EVERYONE was staring at me. All I wanted to do was finish my beer as quickly as possible and get out of there!

Alas my next problem. I ordered the local IPA on the menu and my waitress returned to tell me that it was unfortunately unavailable and asked what I’d like instead. I didn’t have a clue so asked for a recommendation – “the Bearwalker” – alright, sure, let’s do that!

Back comes my waitress a little later and sits down a black beer in front of me. This is my IPA (Indian PALE ale) replacement? I’d been hoping for a like-for-like recommendation. Do I complain? I mean technically it is what I ordered, I just didn’t know what I was ordering.

I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt and hope it was an honest mistake. It’s possible her beer knowledge was limited but it’s also possible she was completely trolling me and purposely found the darkest beer on the menu to serve me (seriously, paranoid much?).

Anyway, of course being English I stuck with the undesirable beer rather than send it back and opting for something different. I do drink dark beers occasionally but it’s by no means my go-to beer. I find them less enjoyable, they’re usually a higher-percentage so get me drunker and consequently they take me longer to drink. Ordinarily it wouldn’t be a problem but unfortunately I did quickly feel out of place and I now found myself in a place I didn’t want to be at, with a beer I didn’t want to be drinking and sadly drinking it at the world’s slowest pace.

I was already drunk and this beer was probably the one that tipped me over the edge. The sensible thing to do would have been to have just left the beer but it wasn’t the cheapest place and I was reluctant to pay near $10 for a beer I wasn’t going to finish.

On the plus side it did kill some time and the music playing was enjoyable too. Looking back I think it was my position (literally and mentally) that probably spoilt my visit. I was already drunk before the “bearwalker” so might have enjoyed BB Kings a bit more had I been sober.

Additionally for some reason they sat me down in the restaurant so I was amongst other diners enjoying their food and chatting away. It didn’t feel like a bar or a club to me, it felt very much like you should be here for food and the music is a bonus. Whereas all I really wanted was to enjoy the blues music and have a drink, perhaps if I’d sat at the bar area I would have felt a bit more relaxed and enjoyed it more so I’m willing to give it a second chance next time but on this occasion I didn’t stick around for a second beer.

“Wise decision Jason..”

Hold off on the praise because although I moved on, I stupidly returned to one of the bars from the night before and squeezed in one more beer before bidding farewell to Nashville. I certainly didn’t need that last beer but I suppose the only alternative was (water, food, fresh air, NOT another beer) to wait around for ages at the bus station.

IMAG5499 — George Jones bar – I liked this place a lot!

Things are a little hazy from there. I remember leaving the bar and trawling through the wet streets and puddles of Nashville en route to the bus station but my memories of Nashville bus station are minimal. I’m surprised I even found it given how drunk I was, let alone ensuring I got on the right bus (“Welcome to Canada!”).

My next clear memory was getting woken up and thrown off the bus in Memphis at 2am so they could “clean the bus”. Thanks Greyhound, you couldn’t have done this at 10pm in Nashville at a more reasonable hour?

Unlike Nashville, Memphis’ bus station I remember clear as day. I spent 45 minutes pacing this little room and you quickly appreciate every little detail, I didn’t dare sit down as I wasn’t sure I’d stay awake and I didn’t particularly fancy waking up in the morning and finding myself stranded in Memphis.

After what seemed like an eternity we were allowed back on to the bus. I must have dozed off almost instantly because the next thing I remember was waking up to this beautiful sunrise in Little Rock, Arkansas! It wouldn’t be long before I’d be in Texas. More on that to come!

Stay tuned!

Jason