The Shame of Albuquerque

I did NOT have a pleasant couchsurfing experience in Albuquerque. Let me tell you about my CS host, Amanda. I found her on couchsurfing.com and from her profile she seemed to be relatively normal. Our few phone calls didn’t set off any red flags either. Staying with Amanda was such a bizarre experience that I feel compelled to write this blog about her…

So I showed up at her house at about 8pm Thursday night. She lives off of a main street right in the city; her house number was missing so I had to do a few drive-bys before I was pretty certain I was at the right place. I called her after I pulled into the driveway to make sure I was in the right spot before I knocked on the door. She answered the phone as she stepped out of her front door to look at me and said “did you just call to make sure this was the right place?” – I laughed a little and said “yeah” – she laughed sarcastically, hung up the phone and shut the front door. This is my first impression of Amanda.

I’m certainly not a high maintenance couchsurfer, but I do expect a little bit of friendly hosting. Couchsurfing is a community after all, a network of individuals who enjoy meeting new people and engaging in conversation…

I got to the front door moments after my arrival and knocked on the door. From behind the door I heard her giving stern commands to her two pitbulls and it took her a whole minute to come to the door. Once I entered her apartment I was speechless - I had nothing to say that wasn’t offensive – her interior décor and personality alike were incredibly off-putting. She meandered between her kitchen and dining room half talking to herself. She didn’t offer me a drink or a seat. She didn’t bother to ask me about my roadtrip either, instead I just listened to her senseless rambling. I followed her into her kitchen where she opened the fridge and started to tell me what she had for dinner. She said “I have lettuce, onion, turnips, radishes, beets…” Then she looked at me like that any of that sounded appealing. I jumped in, suggested that we get take-out or go out to eat and added in “my treat” when I sensed her hesitation.

We got into her stinky car (not quite week-old-burrito-left-in-car stinky, but close to it) and cruised around the city in search of a traditional New Mexican restaurant. She was kind enough to drive me through the main strip of Nob Hill (the hip area) and pointed out places of interest. Personally I thought this entire “hip area” was a pawn shop short of a ghetto. We cruised through another neighborhood and she pointed out that we were driving through Vietnamese gang territory. Then she said something to the effect of “I have no concept of when I should be afraid of something” and said she wasn’t sure whether this neighborhood was okay to drive through.

We arrived at a Mexican restaurant and sat down in a booth in the bar area. This restaurant was a real gem. For example, the booth and the walls were both covered with dark red crushed-velvet material. She said “hi” to a few characters that we passed and gave a big hug to an 80-year old man (who apparently had drunk-dialed her the night before.) After we sat down a friend of hers came by our table to say “hi” and a pair of boxer shorts fell out of his jean pant leg. Another guy in the restaurant pointed this out and her friend, embarrassed, denied it – it was very awkward. The wait staff noticed this too, but just left the underwear there. Gross.

Somehow I still had an appetite and ordered enchiladas – a shredded beef one and an adovada one (not to be confused with avocado.) We got chips and salsa to share and immediately Amanda put honey in the salsa - and not just a drop or two of honey, she put in about three tablespoons of honey in the salsa. I don’t think she noticed that I stopped eating the salsa; I don’t think she cared. When the food came she asked to have a bite of my enchiladas, which is fine I guess…so then I ask for a bite of her food and she said “well that’s the point” with a snobby, matter-of-fact tone. When the bill came I paid for it and she said absolutely nothing – no thank you, no ‘oh that’s not necessary’, nothing – apparently my mentioning of “my treat” was an open and shut case.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, yet remained odd. She decided to watch a Netflix movie (Son of Rambow) and invited one of her friends over. She made these decisions with no buy-in from me; I felt as though I wasn’t even there. She was considerate enough to offer me a bed sheet for the couch; she would have offered that I stay in the guest room, except there was a litter of kittens in there. So I slept on the couch, with one eye open, and woke early in the morning.

I was anxious to get out of the house and out of Albuquerque. I decided to grab a little wifi at her house before I left so that I could research what to do on my drive to Phoenix. As soon as I turned on my computer I heard Amanda open her bedroom door. She walked from her room to the bathroom NAKED. That was the last draw for me; I packed up my computer and got the hell out of there, leaving behind a note that said “Thanks for the couch”.

I felt like Christy Brinkley in National Lampoon’s Vacation

Ok, so maybe I don’t drive a hot red corvette and I don’t seduce married men on their family vacations. I was however driving the wide open road of Texas for hours: windows down, hair blowing, not a care in the world and every spontaneous muscle in me twitching.

In foresight of the road trip I had anticipated driving straight from Austin to Albuquerque. By the time I left Austin though I was en route to Carlsbad Caverns National Park – a stop which came as a strong recommendation from my new CS friend, Bethany. At a pit stop about two hours from my destination I saw signs for Big Bend National Park. Without much thought I followed the signs and started traveling 2.5hours in the wrong direction in search of Big Bend and the adventure that waited. That’s when the National Lampoon’s Vacation feeling really set in.

The park was breathtaking, massive and isolated. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing there, so I stopped at the ranger station and got advice about hiking trails. I found myself at the foot of the Lost Mine Trail around 5pm and found myself at the top at 6pm. Each step of the way was more beautiful than the one before and once I got to the top it became clear to me why I had driven so far out of my way.



I was hungry and exhausted after my hike and set out to find the base lodge restaurant. On my drive I stumbled across a campground. This sparked my interest just as the first sign for Big Bend had. With that I cruised into the campgrounds looking for a place to set up my tent. I found a vacant site near a couple of guys I had passed earlier on the hike. I claimed this site and traveled over to meet these guys. The Road Warriors, as they like to be referred to, were great guys! They took me right in and offered me beer. We hung out for a while until I was too cold and sleepy to be social.

I wish I could say I fell asleep right away, but it took some time to get accustomed to the whipping gusts of wind and all the odd noises of the Park; not to mention I was in the middle of bear country. After a surprisingly sound night of sleep I awoke to freshly made coffee – that is made by The Road Warriors (below). I joined the guys for breakfast (by invitation of course) and had my first MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) – scrambled eggs and bacon. I’m really glad I ran into The Road Warriors - they taught me a thing or two about campsite eating and minimalist packing and they made my first solo camping experience feel a whole lot safer.



After having a hot breakfast in the middle of the beautiful Chihuahuan Desert I was more than ready to start the day. I cruised through the Park and onward through Texas with my favorite road tunes blaring – Ray Lamontange, Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, Ben Lee, Rufus Wainright…

My next stop was Carlsbad Cavern National Park in New Mexico. I spent about an hour in the cave, speeding past many groups of tourists, quickly taking in the sites. It was definitely the best cave I’ve ever seen – being one of only two caves I’ve had the pleasure of being in.



Now I’m in Albuquerque staying with a couchsurfer. She is bizarre - I will explain later. First thing in the morning I'm out of here...

Couchsurfing in Austin

Austin is incredible. This has been by far the best stop on my road trip. I arrived in Austin Friday, May 22nd after dropping Katy at the New Orleans airport and spending all day driving through Louisiana and Texas. I was unfortunate enough to hit rush-hour, Memorial Day traffic going through Houston and felt as though my car was going to get eaten up by all the giant SUVs, trucks, RVs and 18-wheelers that were speeding all around me. This drive made me miss the go-cart type driving in Boston – at least in Boston the cars are smaller and you can’t drive as fast (fast is a relative term.)

I felt a huge sense of relief driving into Austin. I almost can’t believe that this place exists in the middle of Texas. Locals refer to Austin as the blueberry of Texas because it is a little circle of ‘blue’ on the state’s political map. It is so liberal and alternative here and I feel right at home – I could definitely live here someday…

I drove over a beautiful river and traveled by cutesy shops in pursuit of my motel. Then, there it was in shimmering neon lights: The Austin Motel.



Please don’t ask me how I stumbled up on this place – but I promise you it was not intentional. I intended on couchsurfing during my entire stay but I wasn’t so lucky in finding a place to stay until Monday night. The Austin Motel location was sweet though – it is right in the heart of ‘soco’ which is a super hipster hangout. After I checked in and made sure there weren’t mirrors on the ceiling I set out on foot to explore the area.

My first full day in Austin and all the days to follow were spent with couchsurfers. The CS community is really strong in Austin and I lucked out in meeting and hanging with several cool locals. On this first day I met up with Dave (below) and we hiked around, went swimming and hit up a local BBQ joint where the portions were unbelievable.



That evening we went to a CS house party where I met Stephanie who invited me out boating the following day. Day two in Austin I went boating with her and a couple of her friends on Lake Travis - I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon in the sun. We cruised around this gigantic lake and made a final destination stop in Devil’s Cove. Devil’s Cove was a fascinating place; there must have been hundreds of boats tied up to each other in various strands and thousands of people drinking on the boats, in the water and on pool floats. It felt like Spring Break…



After all this amazing time spent with locals I decided it was time to do some of my own city exploring and the following day I took off on foot: I walked to the Capitol and experienced a “Secede Texas” protest; I resisted buying tons of cute stuff at local boutiques; I watched triathlon competitors race on their bikes thru the city; I walked along the river; I met up with another CSer at a backyard BBQ party; I watched an insane amount of bats fly out from underneath a bridge (below); and later in the evening I met up with yet another CSer who hosted me for the night.



Today is my last full day in Austin and I’ve been having a great time hanging out with my CS host, Bethany. Earlier today we hung out at to Barton Springs (a natural spring.) Later tonight we’re headed out for tacos and then she’s going to cut my hair…

It’s really sad to be leaving Austin as I’ve truly felt at home here, but alas it is time to move onto my next destination: New Mexico.

Taking the Southern Route

When the idea for the road trip popped into my head I was in Hawaii. After being asked “so what do you do in Boston?” for the umpteenth time I came to the realization that I wasn’t doing much at all. So the road trip idea was born. I started to work out some logistics while in Kauai with Katy. We both got really excited when we realized that we could do part of the road trip together and furthermore got excited about making a stop down to New Olreans. Done and done.

So, we’re in New Orleans now and we’re trying to shake off last night’s attempt at Bourbon Street. There’s not much to do in New Olreans at night besides listen to live music and drink. We did both. At one point in the night I was on a balcony of a bar overlooking Bourbon Street, feeling a little out of place. There were men all around me with beads in hand, salivating over the thought of seeing titties. Katy and I apparently looked too sober or too much like a lesbian couple to get harassed that night – thank goodness!

Here’s some live music from the first bar we stopped at:

Getting to New Orleans was more of a haul than we had expected. We drove a whole 12 hours from Hunting Island, SC. That was the first drive of true “road trip” quality. Somehow we agreed on 12 hours of music and 12 hours of air quality. I couldn’t quite convince her to listen to lectures on patent law – I’ll save that for the long hauls by myself.

Anyway – so we had our second camping adventure in Hunting Island, SC. We drove there from Pat's in Charlotte, after a brief detour to have lunch with my mom and the friend she was visiting in Raleigh, NC.

(My mother and I - and her crooked sunglasses - you might want to get that fixed mom :)

We arrived at Hunting Island State Park later that evening. The camp grounds were full of RVs and tacky RV set-ups – some people decorated their sites with lanterns and lawn ornaments and some people even brought their direct TV dishes. The whole RV camping thing doesn’t make much sense to either Katy or I. Luckily our campground was tucked away from everyone else, but to be so isolated we had to forfeit a spot right on the beach.

We arrived at our site, set up our tent and left to buy firewood at the camp store. We returned to our site not ten minutes later and found our cooler had been rummaged through. Damn raccoons drank our soy milk, ate a container of hummus and nibbled on our cheese! Luckily we still had food for the evening. Katy got the fire roaring and cooked a pasta, veggie, hummus concoction that was yummy!

We had another critter visit us, but this time it wasn't so bad:

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Flash forward to the present - Katy and I are on our way to Wayne's World...

A crash course in camping

I was hoping for a pleasant, relatively uneventful night, since it was my first real night of camping. The only camping I had done prior to the other night was in the backyards of friends' homes and once at a white-water-rafting campground (with porta-potties on the site.)

Although the day turned out to be beautiful for our hike, the evening wasn't so forgiving...

Katy and I had spent a good portion of the afternoon hiking through the Shenandoah, taking in the vast beauty of the forest. The shades of green blanketing the forest were truly breathtaking. I had never before seen the beauty in moss-covered rocks, natural flowers and geometric angles formed from fallen trees. We feared our walk might be spoiled by bad weather, but the sun shone thru and the weather was perfect for our 6.5 mile loop.

After our hike we were left with just a handful of daylight hours in which to find food and get our campground set up. We cruised into a nearby town, grabbed some hoagies and made it back to the park by 7pm. Katy decided it was a better idea to camp “back woods” as opposed to at a camp ground; I had little say in the matter since I was not so keen on the differences. So, with the tip off from a camping store employee we set out on the Appalachian Trail to find a spot to set up shop. After about a mile in we found a little patch of flat ground just a few yards off the main trail.

The first thing I did was pull out my camera out; the first thing Katy did was pull the tent out. She took a brief look at the sky, listened to the faint roar of thunder and said we should get the tent set up as quickly as possible. I set my photography urges aside and worked beside Katy to pitch the tent. It’s a good thing I already did a test pitch in my Boston apartment before this moment; within five minutes we had the tent erect. No sooner than did we put that last stake in the ground did the sky open up and start pouring rain. And so began my first night of camping in the back woods of the Shenandoah National Park during a severe thunderstorm.

Katy may not agree on the level of severity of the thunderstorm, but to me it was severe. I was already not a fan of thunderstorms. We sat inside the tent, eating our hoagies and playing cribbage until it was time to sleep. Sleeping however was no easy task. Bright flashes of lightning illuminated the sky and roaring thunder ripped through the ground we slept on. At times lightning struck every minute and thunder lasted for ten seconds. Although the rain was consistently loud I did hear faint footsteps outside the tent and hoped it wasn't a bear sniffing out the few pieces of fruit we kept in the tent, or worse... These were not ideal conditions for a ‘first time’ camping expedition.

Supposedly I fell asleep, although nothing about my sleep was restful. I awoke to the sound of whistling winds whipping through our campsite. Katy woke up soon after me and with a hint of the sun rising we decided to pack up and hike back to the car. The rain was gracious enough to hold off until we got back to the car, but then started up again. Although Katy refers to our camping adventure as “fun” I consider it as more of an interesting and educational experience.

(Katy taking off the rain fly in the morning)

I know now that it’s not practical for me to go camping alone – not even at a camp ground – and hiking alone is also out of the question. During our daytime hike we passed by a large group of redneck men and the banjo tune from Deliverance kept playing in my head - that put me on edge. I do love nature and being outdoors yet it does not come easy for me – if you knew my utter disgust for all insects, including butterflies, you would understand. If it weren't for Katy I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to go camping at all. I just hope I can find a friend or two to enjoy the beauty of national parks in the west with me.

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Stop #1: Brighton, MA
Stop #2: Clinton, CT
Stop #3: Brooklyn, NY
Stop #4: Leonardtown, MD
Stop #5: Charlottesville, VA
Stop #6: Shenandoah National Park, MD
Stop #7: Charlotte, NC

I left Brooklyn last Sunday (Mother’s Day) and spent the whole afternoon driving down to Leonardtown, MD. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I took two-hour pit stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore, which are both lovely cities. I finally arrived in Leonardtown, MD late that evening and was fortunate to stay with Josh, Katy’s brother. In the days to follow I spent time with Josh and his roommates and spent an afternoon in DC.

I was excited to walk around the National Mall in DC since I had never been before. I started out at the National Gallery of Art and admired paintings of Geogia O’Keefe, Jason Pollack and Philip Guston. The museum closed at 5pm and I was left to meander around the mall. I did a seven mile loop around many of the national memorials and took a brief nap at the Washington Monument (those benches are really comfortable!) As the sun set I made my way back to the airport to get Katy.

Katy flew into DC from Tahiti after having spent six weeks sailing from Honolulu to the open waters of the French Polynesian. I was really looking forward to seeing her and hearing about her adventures. I was especially looking forward to see whether or not she had shaved all of her hair off on her adventure across the equator. As soon as I found her at baggage claim I ran up to her and removed the hat she was wearing to discover a few inches of hair still left atop her head. Crossing the equator for the first time entails some playful hazing, which includes getting your head shaved. Katy requested a few inches of be left on her head and it looks great on her. It was good to see her and have her join me in the epic road trip.

In our time remaining in Leonardtown we laid on the beach and walked around Soloman Island.

(Me, Josh, Jen and Katy at Soloman Island)

We took off, en route to Charlottesville, VA to visit Ryan. Ryan lives in a beautiful town complete with a bustling, cutesy downtown; his town is in close proximity to good wineries too. We got Ryan to play hooky on Friday and we all went wine tasting. We started out at a couple of beautiful wineries and ended with a not so nice one. Nontheless we got full pours at this last place, a fresh baked loaf of bread and smoked cheddar and sat out on the porch to take in the winery landscape. We thought it was a good time to leave after we heard a loud and closeby gun shot. The owner of the winery came to apologize to us on our way out - she said they had been trying to kill a squirrel. A squirrel. Sure. I'll buy it.

After Ryan's and the night at Shenandoah, Katy and I drove down to Charlotte, NC to visit Pat last night.

Next stop - somewhere on a beach in South Carolina...

NYC checklist

Four things are mandatory for a trip to NYC: eat a bagel, eat a pizza, sing karaoke and view the city from a rooftop. On that count I would consider my trip to NYC a great success.

As I clearly detailed in my last post, my welcome to Brooklyn was a bit jarring as I found myself at S 5th St., Williamsburg (1 on subway map above), not 5th Ave, Park Slope (2 on subway map above.) Gretel's apartment is in a sweet location! The picture to the right is a view from her veranda.

5th Ave is a hot spot for fantastic restaurants and bars and all are snuggled together on the street, so we didn't have to walk far. As a matter of fact, one morning we went to brunch at a bakery that was literally next door to her apartment - so when we sat outside ordering scones, drinking coffee and playing scrabble for nearly four hours, it felt like we were in Gretel's backyard.

My first day in the city I got to see a live taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. I got a ticket from my second-grade crush, Zack Levin. We met up in the Barbie Dream House in Times Square. (Zack pictured below with a Ken doll.)

The audience handling on Letterman is huge deal. I dressed "preppy" (per Zack's request) and was overly excited when I got my ticket, so I was fortunate enough to get seated 3 rows from the stage, right in front of Dave's desk.

Prior to the show, the audience was crammed into the lobby of the Ed Sullivan theatre (3 on subway map above), in efforts to stay dry from the flash-flood rain outside. Zack jumped up on a chair besides me and gave a funny, overly excited and extremely loud run-down of what to expect on the show. Zack instructed us to laugh at anything and everything - so when the show began EVERYTHING was funny. Yes, it was a tad artificial, but with the energy of the crowd and the mere presence of Letterman everything was funny - I even laughed at a few sports jokes.

I returned to Manhattan the next day and met up with two of my cousins near Gramercy Park/Union Square (4 on subway map above.) My cousin Eric works for EMI, which is a huge music publisher, managing labels such as Columbia Records. My other cousin, Lisa, and I got to visit him up in his office and were invited to take a few CDs home with us. I got Gorillaz D-Side and Kenny Rogers 42 Ultimate Hits - some definite jams for my long drives in the south.

Next I went to the MET (5 on subway map above.) I don't know how it happens, but I always get lost in the European art wing of Museums. I enjoy European art, don't get me wrong, but after about 10-20 paintings it all starts looking the same to me. Finally I found the Eastern art collection - a few of my favorites are below.

There were two exhibits that I particularly enjoyed: "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" and "The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984" I wasn't allowed to take photos, but some of the exhibit can be found at the MET's website: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/index.asp

On my way home I made a stop in Queens (6 on subway map above.) I got lost.

I spent my last day walking around Brooklyn - it was beautiful (7 on subway map above.)

(Prospect Park)

(Cherry Blossoms at the Botanical Gardens)

Later that night I checked the two remaining things off my checklist: sing karaoke and view the city from a rooftop. We went to the Old Carriage Inn in Brooklyn, which was a dodgy mix of aspiring Susan Boyles, metal guys who clearly flat-iron their hair (see video below), little people and yes, Fultonians. I ran into a couple of Fultonians - Jill Reobor and Susan Ely (see picture below.)

We ended the night on Gretel's rooftop, where the wind nearly swept us off the roof in a dramatic Mary Poppin's fashion. Incidentally, Gretel and I share the same "Best NYC Story" which involves a rooftop. This story also involves drunkenness, a 6-story fire escape, a model named "Trendz", an orange, a thunderstorm, 911, a flood light and twelve firemen... But everyone has already heard that story, right?

NYC was an incredible stop on my epic adventure, one full of nostalgia, a new found peace, randomness and friendship...

What's in a street name?

My navigation skills were immediately put to the test once I entered Brooklyn. I dutifully found my friend Gretel's address, or so I thought, and waited for her to come home. In any other situation I would have gotten out of the car and walked around to take in the local sites. I was so frightened by the neighborhood however that I sat glued to my car seat, with my doors locked and my knife at hand. I tried to ignore the Hispanic couple that was yelling and pushing each other around right outside of my car. I watched a man dump two cans of cat food into an abandoned gated-in driveway and watched the cats swarm. I examined the local graffiti flavor and the different types window barricades. As I sat in my car I thought of all the things I wanted to bring inside with me to be safe from car theft.

Nearly two hours later, provoked by the onset of having to pee and the sun setting I tried desperately to get ahold of Gretel. As I waited for her reply I decided to compare the address from one of Gretel's text message to the address I had entered in the GPS and sure enough, there was a discrepancy. I was sitting in Williamsburg at S 5th St (see ghetto photo below.) I left in a hurry and when I rolled up into Gretel's actual address on 5th Ave in Park Slope (see nice photo below) a huge wave of relief washed over me. Phew. She didn't live in the ghetto after all. Apparently, in NYC there is A LOT in a street name.

(S 5th St., Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg)

(5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY - Park Slope)

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Stop #1: Brighton, MA

Stop #2: Clinton, CT

Stop #3: Brooklyn, NY

My stop #1 elicits so many emotions that it is difficult to write about. Hopefully later when I've had some time to reflect upon leaving Boston I will have more to say about my first stop.

I arrived in Clinton, CT on Sunday, May 3rd. I stayed with Joanna and her two-year-old son Elijah (unfortunately her husband was in Newfoundland for work, so I missed him.) I offered to watch Elijah on Monday while Jo was at work. I didn't think I would be changing diapers on my road trip, but I did. We had fun - I did sign language with him, I let him sit in the driver's seat of my car while I organized stuff in the back and I walked him down to the river where he threw rocks in the water for nearly an hour. The following day Jo got off of work and we spent all day catching up. It's amazing how different Jo and I have grown, yet I couldn't be happier for her and her family. Someday I'll get to experience that joy...

(Jo and Elijah at Chatfield Hollow State Park)

Yesterday, on my drive to Brooklyn I made a stop in New Haven, CT to visit a hamburger place that Jo had told me about. This place, Louis' Lunch claimed to be the original birthplace of the hamburger, so naturally, on a road trip such as mine, I had to check it out.

[ABC World News covered Louis' Lunch in this "news-worthy" clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O0iH-_c7zQ&feature=related ]

(Louis' Lunch - vertical gas ovens and emblem from the bread toaster)

I sat at the counter, ordered a burger and was soon greeted by a gentleman who took the seat beside me. We made small talk about my camera and I asked him about the local neighborhood. After discovering I was on a road trip, Bob offered to show me around the Yale campus, which was only a few blocks away. I got my own personal tour of the campus - he pointed out the original secret society, which George Washington and John Kerry were members of, a hidden sculpture garden and Yale's Sterling Memorial Library (pictured below.)

(Yale's Sterling Memorial Library and snail sculpture in Yale's Sculpture garden)

Today I'm off to see the Letterman...